The King of Huayu Science Fiction

Chapter 512 Costume Zombie Drama

Shed No. 1 of National Film Beijing Suburb Digital Base is the largest among the filming sheds leased by DreamWorks.

It has almost always been Chen Jingxing's dedicated studio for shooting.

Less than a month after the completion of "Matrix III", Shed No. 1 was re-opened.

A narrow, streamlined airship occupies the center of the studio, about 20 meters long and three meters high.

The unprecedented huge spacecraft in front of him is exactly the Prowler spacecraft that landed on the water planet in "Interstellar". It is definitely the largest spacecraft model ever built by Mo's visual effects department.

Although it is still not a one-to-one model, it is much smaller than the spaceship set in the movie.

The Zhu Rong spacecraft in "The Martian" and the Navigator-[-] space station in "The Wandering Earth" also made models, but they were all in miniature, at most two or three meters long.

Even the special effects blockbusters of heavy industry have many shots that are similar to those of Dongying's special effects films.

The preparatory work for "Interstellar" has actually started long ago, especially the design and production of the model, and the construction and arrangement of the shooting location.

Therefore, shortly after Chen Jingxing called the leading actors to assemble, some spaceship models and special effects props were already produced.

After the green screen shooting of this huge Prowler spaceship will be done in Shed 1, it will be dismantled into parts and transported to the port of Monaco by ship, and then reassembled, and filmed in the Mediterranean Sea on a crane ship.

Actors such as Chen Kun and Yuan Wei will also shoot there.

Then it will continue to transfer to Iceland to meet Lei Jiayin for the filming of the Glacier Planet scene.

It is estimated that the shooting time abroad will not be less than two months.

Wang Peng, vice president of DreamWorks, watched Chen Jingxing observe and even caress the spaceship as excitedly as if he saw a big toy, and couldn't help but feel a little helpless.

"Boss, are you addicted to filming in Europe?"

The shooting plan of Interstellar was led by Chen Jingxing, and the basic principle was to shoot the real thing if it could.

Especially taking the spaceship model to shoot in the Mediterranean Sea and the Icelandic wilderness really puzzled Wang Peng.

Generally speaking, the cost of actual shooting is lower than that of cgi special effects, of course, this refers to high-level cgi.

But it depends on how it is actually shot.

The cost of renting a large hoisting ship to shoot at sea is terrifying, and the cost of shooting in the wilderness of Iceland is even more exaggerated.

It will take more energy and time to transport the Lander spacecraft model to the wilderness of Iceland, although the Lander spacecraft model is much smaller than the Prowler in front of you.

Moreover, some man-made shooting scenes need to be built on the wasteland, and a considerable amount of money for "ecological restoration" must be paid to Iceland, and the whole process must be under the supervision of Icelandic government staff. File and get permission.

Although Iceland has a tax reduction and subsidy policy, the manpower, material resources, and energy required to deal with it also make the so-called tax reduction and subsidy less effective than nothing.

To be honest, the cost of such live-action shooting is definitely greater than that of cgi special effects.

In fact, the budget of "Interstellar" has indeed soared from the original 4.8 million to 6.3 million. It doesn't need to be much higher for DreamWorks to use its own special effects team to remake "Gravity".

"Inception" was filmed in Europe for a long time, Wang Peng can only guess that the boss is addicted to filming in Europe, and he can do both work and travel.

However, unless the project production budget of the owner of DreamWorks really reaches a sky-high price of more than one billion yuan, no one from top to bottom will say no.

Of course, Chen Jingxing himself really likes real shots, but it's not that he has any belief or inexplicable insistence on real shots.

The Matrix is ​​a movie shot mostly in a studio.

But in many cases, real shooting can make the director feel creative. For a movie like "Gravity", after the director has designed the shot script, he is not the leader of the rest.

It's a very subtle feeling.

This is also the reason why many directors prefer real shooting over special effects and virtual shooting, but except for a very few famous directors with box office appeal, most directors do not have such willful capital.

After all, in studio shooting, post-production visual effects assistance is the mainstream, and even TV dramas and on-site shooting are becoming less and less.

In an office separated from the shed, Chen Jingxing asked Wang Peng in surprise, "What is Netflix going to do?"

Chen Jingxing was busy preparing for "Interstellar" and couldn't find time. President Xu Wenshen was now focusing on the construction of the digital film and animation production base of DreamWorks in Shanghai, as well as DreamWorks' investment in other fields.

Therefore, the task of receiving Netflix Asia Pacific Director Kim Minying fell to Wang Peng, the current vice president in charge of content production.

Wang Peng is also an old producer of DreamWorks. Many of Chen Jingxing's films are produced by him. Now the president Xu Wenshen is mainly responsible for the external affairs, and Wang Peng is the gatekeeper of the content.

Wang Pengdao: "Netflix wants to make a zombie drama."

Chen Jingxing was stunned for a moment, although he was a little depressed but still puzzled: "They just shoot if they want? Is this to ask for our opinion, or to appease us?"

Netflix is ​​a global streaming media giant with a market capitalization of more than [-] billion US dollars and billions of dollars in liquidity.

DreamWorks has only just 1200 billion Hong Kong dollars so far. Although it also has billions of liquidity, the unit is RMB.

Who is short of money, and Netflix is ​​unlikely to be short of money, not to mention its production capabilities. Hollywood's film and television industry is ready-made. Netflix has even started filming movies. How can it still spend money without a TV production team?

Foreigners usually have to pay tuition fees to invest in film and television in Hollywood. Netflix is ​​not foreign capital, and it is a streaming media giant, so it will generally not be cheated.

The global popularity of "The Walking Dead" will definitely attract followers. Chen Jingxing is naturally prepared for it. The way to deal with it can only be to cooperate with Universal to develop the world view as much as possible. The game, movie and episodes are all covered, so that the audience loves "The Walking Dead". worldview.

Just like the wizarding world of "Harry Potter", magic themes can naturally follow suit, but the wizarding world of "Harry Potter" makes the audience preconceived, and has a quite lasting charm. You create another magical world by yourself, and the audience Not necessarily buy it.

A good worldview construction is an IP moat.

I just didn't expect Netflix to have a backstab so soon.

Wang Peng nodded: "On the one hand, it means to ask for opinions beforehand. After all, we have cooperated for so many years. Of course, I expressed my dissatisfaction with this face to face, but it's hard to say if Netflix doesn't care."

"And on the other hand?"

Chen Jingxing agrees with Wang Peng. Although DreamWorks and Netflix have signed a share swap agreement, DreamWorks holds only 3.1% of Netflix shares.

Instead, Netflix is ​​DreamWorks' third-largest institutional shareholder.

Even if he objects, Netflix may not care.

Wang Peng's expression was a little weird: "On the other hand, what Kim Minying revealed is that he wants to jointly develop the series with DreamWorks."

"Joint development?" Chen Jingxing wondered, "What is joint development? Netflix has its own production team?

...Ha, got it, Netflix wants to invest? "

This is a threat?
Chen Jingxing immediately realized Netflix's idea.

Wang Peng immediately said: "I heard what she said. The zombie drama should be just a cover. The core is to hope that we can produce more episodes and allow Netflix's funds to join in the development of projects."

"The Walking Dead" is currently Netflix's most successful drama series. According to Netflix's own statistics, the two seasons of "The Walking Dead" have increased the number of Netflix's global users by a net of 438 million. The value of more than 8.91 million US dollars.

However, Netflix's most successful series is not Netflix's work. The copyright is not in the hands of Netflix, and every penny it earns must be shared with DreamWorks.

If capital is content, it is not capital.

Netflix has long launched a self-made drama strategy. Of course, the so-called self-made is not that Netflix itself recruits a production team to shoot, but pays for a local production team.

To put it bluntly, the production team provides project ideas, and if they can convince Netflix, Netflix will invest money. Of course, the copyright of the produced works belongs to Netflix.

There is only one company in the world that has signed a bill-sharing agreement with Netflix like DreamWorks.

This is also obtained by paying a large amount of equity, and of course it is closely related to Netflix's optimism about DreamWorks' creative capabilities.

Who doesn't want to be able to participate in IPs like "The Walking Dead"?

It’s just that Netflix does have a lot of money. In Japan, South Korea, Tianzhu and other countries, countless production teams flock to it, but DreamWorks is not short of money.

For projects that DreamWorks is optimistic about, they can make them themselves, and they don't need anyone to act as a sponsor.

And Netflix is ​​reluctant to part with DreamWorks' content creation capabilities.

Even if "The Walking Dead" is left aside, the popularity of other non-English works such as "Signal", "Suspect Tracker" series, and "Black Mirror" series on the Netflix platform is also outstanding.

Especially because of race, it is more popular with Asian members.

The growth of Netflix subscribers in the United States has slowed down significantly, approaching the ceiling.

Asia has a population of 41.64 billion, accounting for 55% of the global population. It is undoubtedly an important place for Netflix to expand overseas markets.

Coupled with the rapid expansion of other streaming media such as Apple TV+ and Disney+ in the streaming media war, expanding the Asian market has become an important layout for Netflix in the streaming media war in the future.

That's why Netflix spends a lot of money on the film and television industries of Japan, South Korea and even Tianzhu. After all, the Huaguo market cannot enter, and DreamWorks doesn't need him to spend money.

Hollywood films, especially English works, are indeed on the high ground of global popular culture, but because of race and cultural reasons, the growth of Asian users depends on local Asian films.

DreamWorks' film and television dramas have always performed well on the Netflix platform, especially in terms of attracting Asian users, and Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia are all buying it.

DreamWorks, whose creative ability makes people envious, can't be kicked out at present, but no matter what, they have to get a share of it.

What's the matter with the dignified global streaming media giant only acting as DreamWorks' overseas broadcasting platform?

Netflix's plan to make its own zombie drama is a vague hint of threat, and its essence is to expect to co-produce the series with DreamWorks.

After Chen Jingxing thought about it seriously, he didn't get angry, but nodded and said: "Co-production is not impossible, Netflix really has this value."

In the previous life, including this plane, the money spent by Netflix really attracted film and television workers from South Korea, Japan, and even other countries.

In addition to the fact that Netflix does have money, the first is that Netflix does not interfere with the creation. Many screenwriters have given Netflix a high praise: "Netflix does not comment, but only gives money."

It can be called the producer of the world's first conscience.

Of course, this has also led to many creators letting themselves go, and even creating a lot of rubbish.

But there is no doubt that this is too attractive to creators. If Chen Jingxing didn't have DreamWorks, he would also want a party like Netflix.

The second is Netflix's platform, or its ability to communicate across countries and cultures.

An obvious fact is that with the rise of multinational streaming media giants like Netflix, non-English film and television works are more and more convenient to spread internationally, especially in Europe and the United States, and frequently hit the market.

In the past, dramas that could only be popular in East Asia at most can be smoothly spread to Europe and the United States with the help of the Netflix platform.

The series you produce can be directly pushed to millions or tens of millions of users in different languages ​​and countries around the world by Netflix’s recommendation mechanism. This is something that was unimaginable before.

In the past, TV dramas had to obtain high enough ratings or topical popularity in the local area, and then TV stations in other countries would consider buying them out, and they were mainly imported from neighboring countries of the same culture and race. Introduce less non-English dramas.

Even if it is introduced, it will not be broadcast on major TV networks, at most it will be broadcast on small cable TV stations with Asians and Latinos as the main audience.

Although there are still very few popular non-English works on the Netflix platform, this also reduces the difficulty of cross-cultural and cross-lingual communication of non-English drama works by 90%.

This is also what Chen Jingxing values ​​most.

"The Walking Dead" can enable DreamWorks and Universal to launch film projects one after another, and to develop popular games around the world, all of which rely on the blessing of the Netflix platform.

Moreover, Chen Jingxing's upcoming IP of "Once Upon a Time on Earth" also needs to rely on the strong promotion of the Netflix platform. In the long run, it is also necessary to share the cake with Netflix.

Otherwise, Netflix doesn’t only have the option of DreamWorks, isn’t it even the director of the Asia-Pacific region who is Korean?

Instead of letting Netflix give promotional resources to South Korea, Dongying or even Tianzhu, it is better to strengthen Netflix's dependence on DreamWorks-although gold will always shine, but Netflix's recommendation mechanism is crucial to whether a drama can quickly reach hundreds of millions. There is still an important role in front of users.

Previously, DreamWorks' film partners were usually National Film, Universal or domestic online video platforms.

TV dramas are usually sole proprietorships.

Netflix is ​​indeed a relatively high-quality partner.

The dramas of DreamWorks are usually short dramas with less than 20 episodes. They are neither idol dramas nor emotional dramas.

Therefore, domestic video platforms cannot pay a large price to buy copyrights.

Unless DreamWorks expands the number of episodes of its own TV series to forty or fifty episodes or more, and then adds a lot of love scenes.

In the future, the main income of DreamWorks TV series will indeed rely more on Netflix and overseas.

"Anyway, Netflix only pays the money and doesn't interfere with the production. That's fine." Chen Jingxing said thoughtfully, "However, the IP of "The Walking Dead" must not be let go. Netflix cannot be allowed to join in the third season, and Universal will share the cake. I'm already heartbroken."

Wang Peng also felt the same way: "That's right, the IP copyright value of "The Walking Dead" is too high. Anyway, I heard that the production of zombie dramas is just a cover for Netflix's asking price. Otherwise, "Suspect III" is not going to be filmed soon Did it? Pull Netflix in?"

"No need, these are sequels, how do you get the copyright? If you want to pull it, start a new project."

Chen Jingxing waved his hand: "Don't they want to make zombie dramas to keep up with this zombie trend and make money? Then make zombie dramas!"

Wang Peng was a little worried: "I'm afraid that if we want to make a zombie drama, even if the worldview is different, the IP value of "The Walking Dead" will be weakened."

"Then make different types of zombie dramas. "The Walking Dead" is a zombie IP with a modern world view. In the final analysis, it is a world view based on wasteland and technology. To differentiate it from "The Walking Dead"...then make a period costume Zombie show."

"...an ancient costume...a zombie?"

(End of this chapter)