You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 413 Let's work together

Qin Shaoyan hesitated for two seconds and slowly said, "Sister Luo, I think low-cost movies don't quite match the effect we're pursuing."

Luo Yan smiled slightly, "Boss Qin, I understand how you feel."

"But Hollywood is a very complicated place. It's not as simple as you think."

"It is a great achievement that this novel can be adapted into a live-action movie. Low-cost movies are low-risk and relatively safe. If they are well managed, profitability is not a problem."

The waters of Hollywood are indeed deep, and it is impossible to get in. Even if Wall Street comes, they will have to bleed before leaving.

A globally popular series of big IP can be shown to be loss-making after accounting, with the main theme being to eat meat and not spit out bones.

Luo Yan has been in Hollywood for more than ten years, but is still just a third-rate producer.

This is even when she has no shortage of funds, as her husband Xiong Xiaoge's connections can help her secure a lot of film investment.

Even so, her ceiling was obvious and she couldn't even get into the top clubs.

Luo Yan's opinions and suggestions are very pertinent and reasonable.

However, what Qin Shaoyan wants is not the novel to be adapted into a live-action movie, but the value of the IP.

Low cost is indeed safe and has a high probability of making a profit, but making a profit is not what we want.

I brought my novel to Hollywood hoping for a big hit, but a low-budget little movie probably wouldn't even be shown in theaters and would have to go to the DVD market.

That would be meaningless. If it doesn't go to theaters, it won't be worth hyping.

The novel "I Grow Potatoes on Mars" has a hard time winning the Hugo Award, and the movie it was made into won't win any awards either, so the value of the IP is greatly reduced.

Qin Shaoyan thought about it and asked tentatively: "If this movie has enough funds to produce, is there a chance that it will be released in theaters?"

Luo Yan sighed, "The biggest obstacle here is not funding. It can even be said that funding is the least significant problem."

But Luo Yan couldn't help but ask, "How much money can Mr. Qin invest in this movie?"

Qin Shaoyan said casually, "I can probably raise 30 to 40 million US dollars."

"Hiss~" Luo Yan took a breath and felt that Qin Shaoyan was so arrogant. He said 30 or 40 million US dollars as if it were 3,000 or 4,000 yuan. "Boss Qin is really financially strong."

Xiong Xiaoge felt strange and asked directly, "Why don't you do something else with so much money? Why do you have to waste it?"

"No." Qin Shaoyan knew that the couple had misunderstood, and explained, "I definitely won't pay. YouTube will pay for it. Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, so he definitely won't be stingy with the money."

"..." Xiong Xiaoge didn't know how to praise Qin Shaoyan.

This guy always seems to like using other people's money to do his own things.

If the risk is small, Qin Shaoyan will give it a try. It is better to use other people's money to throw money into Hollywood.

Luo Yan also laughed. "It sounds good to have Bill Gates join, but I'm not sure whether Hollywood will give face to the world's richest man."

Qin Shaoyan nodded, "I understand."

Qin Shaoyan then fell into deep thought. Xiong Xiaoge and Luo Yan did not disturb him and just drank their coffee.

Qin Shaoyan thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "Sister Luo, what do you think of this novel?"

"Not bad." Luo Yan said seriously, "I'm not being polite. This novel is really good, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you to discuss this project."

"But you have to know, Mr. Qin, that just because the story is good doesn't mean anything."

"After more than a hundred years of market cultivation, Hollywood has formed a high-tech, capital-intensive industrial chain and a large team of related professional talents."

"I have used screenwriters from Hollywood. They are quite professional. Even a junior screenwriter is clear about the overall production process."

"There are hundreds of professional screenwriters in Hollywood. They write countless scripts every year, and there are countless script libraries in major film and television companies."

"The ones who are chosen and adapted into movies are already one in a million."

Qin Shaoyan listened with a smile, then asked, "If Sister Luo's story is adapted into a movie, is there a high chance of losses?"

Luo Yan laughed and said, "Don't worry about that. I have plenty of experience in this area. I can't guarantee that I will make money, but even if I lose money, I won't lose much."

"Oh?!" Qin Shaoyan was a little curious, "Then Sister Luo, tell me about this knowledge so that I can learn from it with an open mind."

"That was in 2001. I was the chief producer, screenwriter and lead actor of the original film The Woman in the Courtyard. The film was pre-sold to Universal Pictures at the script stage through a guaranteed minimum, recovering 90% of the cost in advance." Luo Yan began to explain, "Now we have a very complete process mechanism."

"A professional script incubation and financing process can produce a film that can be sold in multiple markets, thus increasing the chances of profitability."

"Standard investment includes three rounds: incubation of project scripts, locking in deposits for the main creators, distribution guarantees, and production funds."

“We use 10-15% of the budget to complete the script in the first round, and we usually invest it ourselves.”

"Just like developing new drugs, you don't know which project you have will eventually meet the product direction of the distribution company that year. Hollywood receives thousands of scripts every day. For example, among the movies that Warner Bros. invests in script development, only 1/20 of them will receive three rounds of funding for filming."

"In the second round of financing, what the producer needs to do is to lock in the main creative deposit and the distribution guarantee, which requires about 5-10% of the budget." Luo Yan added, "In our industry, the most powerful thing is pre-sale (distribution guarantee), which is also the main means of financing."

"Producers usually try to pre-sell 50% of their budget to distribution companies, investment firms or banks."

"Using the distribution rights of various countries or regions for pre-sale, the amount of pre-sale depends on the level (market value) of the script's appeal to the creative team, and the price is set accordingly. In my case, the distribution company usually divides the net profit after the principal is recovered in half, which is determined by their comprehensive evaluation of the script and the level of the creative team."

"The third round of financing is relatively simple, which is to attract funds to come in." Luo Yan continued, "After the three rounds of financing, the next step is the completion guarantee that people often mention. It is also a necessary process for investors to ensure the safety of fund use through third-party supervision. The guarantee company needs to check the producer's incubation expenses, main creative deposits, issuance guarantee contracts, gap investment fund goodwill and other agreements in detail. The bank uses the issuance guarantee as collateral to issue loans, and the guarantee company will issue funds to the producer according to the cash flow table and supervise the production."

"Hollywood capital has serious professionals and standards for content evaluation. More than half of all banks in Los Angeles are capable of evaluating large-scale entertainment products."

Qin Shaoyan listened carefully and sighed, "There are so many things to learn in Hollywood. There is really no end to learning. Thank you for your introduction, Sister Luo. Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading."

"It's nothing, it's just common sense in the industry." Luo Yan smiled indifferently.

Qin Shaoyan looked at Xiong Xiaoge, "Boss Xiong, I think our plan is more feasible."

Xiong Xiaoge was stunned and very confused. It seemed that my wife said so much, but you didn't hear a word of it.

"How do you know it's more feasible?" Xiong Xiaoge asked back with a frown.

"Didn't you listen to what Sister Luo said?" Qin Shaoyan was a little surprised. "She explained it very clearly."

Seeing Qin Shaoyan's confident tone, Xiong Xiaoge began to wonder if it was his poor hearing or poor comprehension.

"Sister Luo said that the most important thing in this project is the script." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "A professional script, a script that can be popular in multiple markets can increase the chances of making a profit."

"A good script can be bought directly by a big Hollywood company. Hollywood capital has serious professionals and standards for judging content."

"What does this prove? Content is king. A good story is the soul." "Isn't 'I Grow Potatoes on Mars' a good content?"

Xiong Xiaoge sneered, "Whether it is good content or not is not up to you to decide, only Hollywood can decide."

"You're wrong." Qin Shaoyan retorted with a serious face, "Hollywood doesn't have the final say, only the audience has the final say."

"..." Xiong Xiaoge said impatiently, "You are just talking correct nonsense."

Qin Shaoyan was not annoyed. "I plan to start with the audience in the American market, build and cultivate a large enough audience group, and let Hollywood realize that this is a high-quality content."

"If you want to fish, you have to make a nest first."

"Hmm?" Xiong Xiaoge immediately realized that he might not have followed Qin Shaoyan's train of thought. "What do you want to do?"

"First, find a few good translators to translate the novel into English," Qin Shaoyan said seriously. "Change the protagonist to an American, and the space agency to NASA. This will make American readers feel more involved."

“Then the translated novels are posted directly on the American Internet for everyone to read for free.”

"Free?!" Xiong Xiaoge was stunned. "You're not going to publish it?"

"For the sake of our common interests, what does it matter if I sacrifice a little bit of my personal interests?" Qin Shaoyan said passionately, "As long as I can promote this IP, it's just some royalties."

"Free novels will definitely attract a large number of readers, which will expand the readership."

"Then we just need to do some small marketing, plus some small operations, and the data of this work will become very attractive."

"Facebook and YouTube will strongly recommend it, and other websites can also make a fuss about it." Qin Shaoyan suddenly sneered, "Such a popular and topical novel, I don't believe Hollywood will not be tempted."

"If you want to take something in advance, you must give it first." Xiong Xiaoge seemed to be thinking about it, and finally said decisively, "Since Boss Qin has such great courage, I think this can be done. I support Boss Qin."

Isn’t this Qin Shaoyan’s previous operating strategy?

First, hype up the novel, then create internet heat, and then make the topic go viral through hype.

If it can be done, it will be beneficial to Qvod.com. If it fails, Xiong Xiaoge will not suffer any loss.

"With Mr. Xiong's help, we can accomplish our mission!" Qin Shaoyan said excitedly, "Please Mr. Xiong and Ms. Luo take care of this matter."

"Sure, sure." Luo Yan nodded. "I think this project has potential, and I'm glad to be able to participate in it."

Xiong Xiaoge felt something was wrong. From what Qin Shaoyan said, it seemed that he wanted him to contribute manpower and money as well.

Before Xiong Xiaoge could object, Qin Shaoyan took out his phone and said, "I'll call Davis, the head of YouTube. They are the financial sponsor of this matter, and we can't avoid them for cooperation."

When he heard that Davis was going to be called over, Xiong Xiaoge held back his words. With this person around, there was a high probability that IDG would not pay.

"Davis, I have something very important to discuss with you. Please come here as soon as possible. Yes, it's very important!"

After Qin Shaoyan hung up the phone, he looked up at Xiong Xiaoge and said, "Boss Xiong, Davis will be here soon. Please cooperate with us."

It's just a double act, I'm familiar with it.

Xiong Xiaoge nodded modestly, "Okay, okay."

The meeting room was soon filled with a subtle atmosphere. Luo Yan looked at her husband with some confusion, not knowing what the two were talking about, but it was too difficult for her to ask.

Davis arrived quickly, reaching the campus network within half an hour of receiving the call.

The people from Campus Network and IDG who were sitting in the reception room and chatting were excited. Even Davis from Microsoft was here. It seemed that there was a big business to discuss today.

Wang Jun, CTO of the campus network, said with a smile, "It seems that the boss will talk for a long time. I don't know what they will eat. Let's fill our stomachs first."

"There's a nice restaurant nearby, shall we go try it?"

IDG's Zhou Dao also agreed, "Okay, okay, the guest should follow the host's wishes, let's go eat first."

Wang Jun thought for a moment and said, "Let's call the people from Yiku.com as well. I guess Davis won't be able to use them for the time being."

After receiving the invitation, Yiku.com hesitated for a moment and said, "This is not good."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Wang Jun said enthusiastically, "They can't come out for more than two hours if they keep talking, and by then it will be past dinner time. We should eat first so that we can better serve the boss, right?"

"Besides, the hotel is only a few minutes away from here, so it's convenient to go back and forth."

The people at Yiku.com thought that what Wang Jun said made sense. The boss might not go to the dinner party after the meeting, and even if he did, they, as subordinates, would not dare to eat too much. It would be better to eat well in advance.

So the three groups of people left happily.

……

Davis just walked into the meeting room and found Xiong Xiaoge there. He was a little surprised and went up to greet him, "Hugo (Xiong Xiaoge's English name), why are you here too?"

Xiong Xiaoge smiled and said, "Boss Qin asked me to come over to discuss the film adaptation of his novel. My wife is a Hollywood producer, and we are here to give him some reference and suggestions today."

"Oh, that's great." Davis said happily, "John told me a few days ago that he was going to sell his novel to Hollywood. I didn't expect him to act so quickly."

"We have to hurry up." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "This is a big business involving hundreds of millions of dollars."

Davis was also a little excited. If this book could really be adapted into a Hollywood movie, it would also be his contribution.

In this way, he can give Bill Gates a satisfactory answer.

Promotion and salary increase are just around the corner!
"John, how is it going? Is the chance of success high?" Davis asked quickly, "What difficulties have you encountered? Is there a funding gap?"

"No, no, no, funding is a small problem." Qin Shaoyan waved his hand, "This is not a funding issue."

"And even if this movie doesn't make it to theaters, it won't lose money and can even make a small profit."

"Whether it makes money or not is not the point." Davis obviously doesn't care about this part. He only cares about whether the movie can be made, preferably into theaters.

Anyway, it’s not his money that is lost. The production cycle of a movie is not short. By the time the movie is released, he would have been promoted and left.

"We should make some money if we can." Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "I think the most important point of this IP is its fame."

“Fame is data, fame is popularity, fame is stock price, fame is profit and money!”

"That's absolutely right!" Davis nodded in agreement.

Fame and fortune, fame and fortune, with fame comes natural benefits.

Qin Shaoyan said slowly, "So the first thing we need to solve now is how to make this IP popular in the United States."

(End of this chapter)