Reborn in Hong Kong as a Tycoon

Chapter 654 Blockbuster's development, eyeing Lianmei (two in one)

On the next Friday morning, Lin Baicheng went to Morningstar Films.

"Chairman!" "Good morning, Chairman!".
It is not the first time Lin Baicheng has come here, and the employees greeted him one after another when they saw him.

Even new employees who have just entered the company in recent months will be required to remember the face of the big boss and have seen Lin Baicheng's photo, so it will not happen that he, the big boss, comes to his company but is blocked by security at the door or It's the employees who don't know him.

"Hmm!" "Good morning!"

Lin Baicheng greeted all the way into the elevator, and the people who had entered the elevator had already come out, so he was not polite when he saw this.

Lin Baicheng came to the executive office floor with his personal secretary and bodyguards.

"Chairman!"

When Lin Baicheng came to the door of the office, he arranged for the secretary here at Morningstar Films to greet him immediately after seeing him.

"Call Lansing over here."

Lin Baicheng said to her and walked into the office.

The two bodyguards followed into the office to have a look, and then walked out. Catherine, the private secretary, was working in the secretarial room outside.

It wasn't long before Shirley Lansing arrived.

Catherine then brought in two cups of coffee and went out.

"How's the deal with the main creative team of Little Ghost Headquarters?"

Lin Baicheng asked aloud, the first film was a hit, and a sequel is definitely going to be filmed, and he won't make trouble with money.However, as previously feared, the entire creative team demanded a salary increase, so Morningstar Pictures would naturally have to negotiate with the creative team, and it was impossible for them to pay as much as they asked for.

"It's Cameron right now, the company is still negotiating with his agent, Michael Ovitz."

Shirley Lansing continued: "Cameron Atlanta joined the CAA brokerage company. CAA was established in 75. Its founder was Cameron's agent Michael Ovitz. Ovitz Although the remuneration offered by Weitz is relatively high, it is still within a reasonable range, but the lower the remuneration for Cameron, the better, so the company is still negotiating with Ovitz."

Lin Baicheng nodded: "So, how much will the shooting cost this time?"

"The estimated shooting cost is 4500 million U.S. dollars, mainly due to the substantial increase in the salary of the main creative team, but the company is negotiating with some companies about the placement of advertisements. The box office of the first part of Home Alone, the placement of advertisements for the next two parts, will be recovered. $500 million is still fine."

This time, Home Alone is shooting the second and third parts together, so the production cost is so high.

In the production cost of 4500 million US dollars, the salary of the actors, director and behind-the-scenes team alone will add up to about 1500 million US dollars, and one-third of the salary of the third part will be paid after the release of the third part, which is not included in this $1500 million.

What's more, the main actors and directors still have a share of the US box office profits in the third film, but fortunately, the base is not large.

Lin Baicheng reminded: "The placement of advertisements should be appropriate, and there should not be too many placements, which will affect the movie itself."

"You can rest assured that the producer and director will do a good job of reviewing." Shirley Lansing nodded in understanding.

Lin Baicheng added: "For the implanted advertisements, don't forget the products of your own company, such as the Xingyue console, Rubik's Cube, yo-yo, claw machine, etc., can all appear in the movie appropriately. By the way, the company where these toys are located , did you take the initiative to contact Morning Star Films?"

Shirley Lansing nodded and said: "Yes, these companies have contact companies here, and related products will appear in the movie at that time."

"It's almost there."

Lin Baicheng was a little satisfied after hearing this. It should be that he, the big boss, didn't think about many things, but his subordinates did, rather than him, the big boss, urging the subordinates to do what they did.If that's the case, how could he be busy alone, and what else would he do with such a useless manager.

"All the advertisements placed by the company must be charged. It is nothing more than a discounted price. I have said all these. I believe I don't need to remind you repeatedly."

Shirley Lansing said immediately: "Chairman, you can rest assured that the company cooperates with other enterprises in accordance with normal business transactions."

The reason for doing this is that some companies are 100% controlled by Lin Baicheng, while others only hold part of the shares, and there are running accounts of revenue and expenditure between companies so that there will be no problems.

What's more, the revenue and profit of each company is also related to the dividends and bonuses of executives and employees. These are very important to employees. If they are not calculated clearly, it will discourage the enthusiasm of employees.

To be more realistic, even if it is a brother company, if it is not beneficial to help every time, then the company will be unmotivated from top to bottom, so the efficiency of doing things can be imagined.

This is not only the case with Morning Star Films and other companies, but also with every company under Lin Baicheng's name. Even the capital exchanges between subsidiaries within the group are carried out in accordance with normal commercial cooperation, nothing more than that their own company will Just give a discounted price.

"If the company's funds are not enough, the loan will be taken. You can make a report and I will sign it."

The reason why Lin Baicheng said this is because the second and third films of Home Alone are no longer his sole proprietorship, but he and Morningstar Films jointly invest. The investment ratio is [-]% to [-]%. The funds are enough, but the profit distribution is [-]-[-] evenly distributed, which can be regarded as a cooperation method that is more beneficial to Lin Baicheng.

However, after this cooperation, all the copyrights of Home Alone will automatically belong to Morningstar Pictures, so as long as the second and third films of Home Alone continue to sell well, then Morningstar Pictures will not only not lose money, but will actually make money.

The copyright of a blockbuster series of movies is very valuable. Not only can it continue to make sequels, but it can also make money through video tapes and other various authorizations.

In the long run, in the era of DVDs and Internet video sites in the future, copyrights can still be used to continue to make money.

In Morningstar Films, Lin Baicheng only invested 5000 million U.S. dollars. With this money, he acquired three film companies, established distribution channels, and invested in film production. Last year, he even invested in Blockbuster, a subsidiary of Blockbuster, so he spent a lot of money.

Although the company's profits are positive, the movies it invests in are generally profitable, and the release of Home Alone is even more lucrative, but the film industry does not pay back so fast, and Morningstar Pictures can't afford more than 3000 million US dollars at all. .

Even if the more than 3000 million U.S. dollars does not need to be paid out immediately, after the crew decides to start filming, at least more than 1000 million U.S. dollars will be spent in the early stage.Part of the actor's remuneration must be paid first, and the pre-production preparations for shooting also cost money.

Shirley Lansing said: "Chairman, if you don't say anything, I will also mention this matter to you in a while. The company may need a loan at that time. If the company needs a loan, I will apply to you of."

"You're good to know what you have in mind."

Lin Baicheng nodded when he heard the words, and then asked: "About Blockbuster, how is the recent development?"

"It has started to get on the right track, and many stores have already made profits."

Shirley Lansing replied, and said proactively: "Currently, Blockbuster's stores have basically covered Los Angeles and New York. Next, Blockbuster will expand to other cities in California, adopting the model of flagship stores and franchisees. form business."

Morningstar invested $1000 million in Blockbuster, and because of this, the parent company is not rich in cash.

"Chairman, according to what you said, the flagship store is purchased and operated by itself, so Blockbuster's investment is relatively large. The company invested 1000 million US dollars and only a million or so US dollars are left. This is because the payment for the video tape can be deferred. , otherwise Blockbuster’s funds would have been insufficient.”

"Blockbuster's business model requires too much capital, and Morningstar Pictures can't support it at all. Once Blockbuster starts to expand to other cities in California, it will inevitably need a lot of money, not to mention the subsequent national expansion. gone."

Shirley Lansing talked about the difficulties. In fact, she did not agree with the business model of owning flagship stores and buying stores. She thought it would be better to rent a store, which would not require too much capital and the company could expand more quickly.

However, Lin Baicheng is the big boss, and he insisted on this. After Shirley Lansing's persuasion failed, she had no other choice but to implement it.

"Morningstar Pictures should stop injecting capital into Blockbuster."

After hearing this, Lin Baicheng thought for a while and said, "Since Blockbuster is running out of funds, let Blockbuster raise funds. I will find a partner for Blockbuster."

It is true to say so, but Lin Baicheng will not look for investors for Blockbuster for the time being, but invests his own money, but it is no longer in his own name, but overseas offshore companies and funds. My real shareholding ratio can be hidden.

The amount of financing this time will not be too large, and the financing funds are almost enough for Blockbuster to expand its stores to the entire state of California. If it lacks money later, it will really seek financing from venture capital or Wall Street.

Blockbuster is definitely going to go public, so cooperation with Wall Street capital is a must. Finding cooperation with Wall Street capital before listing can make Wall Street capital more profitable, so that Wall Street capital will pay more attention to Blockbuster. Instead of seeing Blockbuster developing well, choose to invest in other small companies of the same type.

Although Blockbuster has no competitors yet, Lin Baicheng is sure that once Blockbuster covers California, there will definitely be companies that follow suit, and even competitors will appear before covering the entire California.

But any profitable industry will not lack followers.

Make money, business, not shabby!

"Yes, I will notify Manager Kilman in advance."

The Kilman manager Shirley Lansing spoke of was Blockbuster's manager Errol Kilman.

As for Shirley Lansing herself, she is now the president of Morningstar Pictures, which is considered a promotion in disguise.

Although the president and the manager are the same in nature, there is still a little difference.

There are dozens of people in a company, and when there are not many departments, the department leaders are usually called supervisors, and the top leaders are managers; once the company grows and the number of people gradually increases, and a department is divided into several small departments, then the department The title of the leader becomes the manager, and the top leader becomes the general manager.

When a company develops to the point of establishing a subsidiary, because the subsidiary also has the relationship with the general manager, the title of the head of the parent company becomes the president.

"It's up to you."

Lin Baicheng was about to end the conversation when he suddenly remembered: "At the United Artists Film Company, ask someone to check to see if there is a film with the word 'heaven' in it. "

The reason why Lin Baicheng asked this question was because he knew that United Artists went bankrupt because of a movie when it first entered the 80s, and was eventually acquired by MGM.

As for the movie that bankrupted United Artists, he only remembered the word 'heaven', which meant sending United Artists to heaven, otherwise he might not remember it.

The main reason for asking this matter is that Lin Baicheng wanted to know the exact date of Lianmei's bankruptcy, and then made an acquisition of Lianmei.Although United Artists is not comparable to the other seven, it has been established for more than 60 years. The company's film library must have a lot of film copyrights. After the acquisition, it can supplement the shortcomings of Morningstar Films.

"Chairman, you are talking about the gate of heaven."

Shirley Lansing said immediately after hearing this.

"Tell me briefly, especially the production cost of this film, do you know?"

Lin Baicheng's heart moved when he heard the words, whether it is this movie or not can be known by looking at its production cost.

"know."

Shirley Lansing nodded and said, "Heaven's Gate was filmed by Michael Cimino, winner of the 51st Academy Award for Best Director last year. Last year, United Artists invested a huge sum of money in the filming. It is said that the investment was as high as 4000 million. However, although United Artists advertised an investment of 4000 million US dollars, the real investment may not be that much, but there must be 3000 million US dollars, and only United Artists internal personnel know the specific figure."

"Take an intermediate figure and calculate it as 3500 million U.S. dollars. This investment is indeed not low."

Lin Baicheng couldn't help but nodded slightly, he knew that this movie should have caused United Artists to go bankrupt.This is a big investment, the production cost of one film is almost equal to the two sequels of Home Alone, and it is also Home Alone after the salary of the main creative team has been greatly increased.

When the first film was filmed, the production cost of Home Alone was only 800 million US dollars, and Heaven’s Gate was worth four films in Home Alone, so it’s not a big production.

"The movie shot last year should be finished this year. Either it will be released this year or next year. Lansing, please remember to pay attention to the movie Heaven's Gate, and remember to tell me when it is released."

If you want to acquire Luanmei, you must wait for Luanmei to go bankrupt before acting.Also, Lin Baicheng didn't have to buy Lianmei. If Lianmei was willing to give up most of the shares or sell the film library, he could accept it. Anyway, he only bought Lianmei's film library.

"Okay, Chairman."

Shirley Lansing couldn't help being a little puzzled when she heard the words. For a while, she couldn't understand why Lin Baicheng paid attention to the movie "Heaven's Gate" produced by United Artists.

Lin Baicheng did not explain, there is no need to say too much now.

Afterwards, the two chatted about the company's stored script library and established distribution channels. After chatting for more than an hour, Lin Baicheng let Shirley Lansing leave.

Lin Baicheng did not leave the company immediately, but stayed at Morningstar Films to work.

(End of this chapter)