The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 59 Redstone

"What do you want?" Xu Guanwu didn't understand at first, so he asked casually.

Zhao Yazhi woke up with a start, and quickly covered her mouth, her whole face blushing.

"Uh..." Xu Guanwu was stunned for about a dozen seconds, "Are you willing?! Ah Zhi, you just said you were willing, didn't you? Say it again!"

Seeing his ecstatic look, Zhao Yazhi couldn't help being both shy and sweet, "I didn't say anything just now, so I'm ignoring you." After speaking, she turned her head and ran away.

"Oh, how can you pretend that you haven't said anything?" Xu Guanwu hurriedly chased after him, "What you said must be counted, Ah Zhi!"

Chasing and shouting all the way, countless people stopped to watch.

……

Half an hour later, Xu Guanwu gently put his arms around Zhao Yazhi, "Azhi, you keep your word. After this filming is over, we will go back to Hong Kong to get married."

"People always use diamond rings for marriage proposals, but you tricked me with a silver ring." Zhao Yazhi stroked the silver ring on her ring finger and said, "Tell me honestly, did you design it on purpose today?"

"No, but I think it was deliberately arranged by God." Xu Guanwu said with a smile, "On your wedding day, I will give you a diamond ring the size of a pigeon egg."

"A diamond ring the size of a pigeon egg is too big to take out. I only need a three-carat diamond ring." Zhao Yazhi shook her head and smiled, "I'm afraid that when the time comes, the movie will lose money and you won't even have half a carat. Diamonds can’t afford it.”

"Hey, as long as this movie is released, let alone the pigeon egg diamond ring, I can even buy the diamond on the queen's crown." Xu Guanwu laughed.

……

Just when Xu Guanwu and Zhao Yazhi were sharing their sweet world together, the movie "Rocky" was finally announced after 28 days of filming.

After printing, editing, soundtrack, copying and other post-production, Xu Guanwu finally got the first copy of "Rocky".

Then he started to contact the distribution business, but he faced a big problem.

The eight major Hollywood film companies almost monopolize the North American film distribution business.

After watching this "Rocky", although they were very interested in the distribution of the film, when they found out that the investor of this film was a Hong Kong person and had no contacts in the United States, they gave a very low price. price, trying to buy out the copyright of this movie at a one-off price.

"We know that you invested $100 million in this movie, so let's give you $150 million. The copyright of this movie will be handed over to us, and we will also be responsible for making sequels in the future."

The representatives of the eight major film companies showed almost the same expressions immediately, and said condescendingly to Xu Guanwu.

"It's unreasonable!" Xu Guanwu was extremely angry.

The box office of "Rocky" in North America exceeded 2000 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office was as high as 2000 million U.S. dollars.

A mere $150 million wants to buy this movie, eat X (harmony) and go!

……

Negotiations with the eight major Hollywood film companies broke down. Xu Guanwu knew it was a treasure but couldn't sell it.

"Ah Wu, apart from the eight major film companies, is there no other company that can distribute it? Why don't we ask the cinema distributor directly." Seeing Xu Guanwu sighing and haggard, Zhao Yazhi couldn't help but asked worriedly .

"That's right! Why didn't I think of this?" Xu Guanwu stood up abruptly, pulled Zhao Yazhi over with force, and sucked hard, "Ah Zhi, thanks for reminding me, I'm going to find the theater right now business try."

The "Paramount Judgment" issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948 declared that it was an illegal monopoly for a major studio to own both distribution and first-run theaters, and ordered it to give up control of the screening process.

Until the late 80s, under the agitation of the Reagan administration's "deregulation policy", several major production companies regained their ownership of theaters.

Therefore, at the moment, the eight major Hollywood film companies do not actually have theaters in their hands. If they need to show a movie, they also need to contact the theaters.

After Xu Guanwu figured it out, he decided to bypass the eight major film companies and go to the theaters to discuss the distribution. Of course, this is not an easy task.

The American producers, distributors, and filmmakers are like an iron triangle.

Producers are responsible for filming, distributors are responsible for distribution and publicity, and theater operators are responsible for providing theaters. All three are indispensable.

If Xu Guanwu abandons the link of the distributor, he will have to bear the promotion of the film independently, which will be a considerable sum of money, and may even be higher than the cost of filming the film.

Xu Guanwu has already spent 100 million U.S. dollars to make this film, and now he has no more than [-] U.S. dollars in hand.These are still earned by writing songs for Ah SAM.

"What should I do?" Xu Guanwu, who thought he had found a way out, found himself in a dead end again.

Just when he was very depressed, a gust of wind suddenly blew a newspaper to Xu Guanwu's eyes.

The headline headlined "National Entertainment Manager Redstone: Content Is King," next to a photo of a bearded man.

"Lei Shidong?!" Xu Guanwu copied the newspaper in his hand and read the report repeatedly.

After a long time, Xu Guanwu carefully folded the newspaper, stuffed it into his pocket, and then raised his head to sweep away the decline.

For Lei Shidong, Xu Guanwu can be said to have known his name for a long time.

When he was studying in university, he had read the biography of Lei Shidong, and he admired the CEO of the second largest media group in the world after Murdoch.

Redstone's full name is Sumner Redstone. He participated in World War II and obtained a doctorate in law. At the age of 31, he took over from his father and became the owner of a car theater in Massachusetts.

The 58-year-old was severely burned. At first, he thought it would be difficult for him to survive, but what is surprising is that he not only survived, but also has more momentum than before.

At 63, he sold several movie theaters to finance the purchase of Viacom, a small cable TV company at the time.

At the age of 70, he acquired Paramount, one of the eight major Hollywood film companies, and CBS at the age of 76. At the age of 78, he was selected as the No. 18 richest man in the world by Forbes.

The Viacom Entertainment Company he controls owns Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, Blockbuster, etc. It is a world-class media giant second only to News Corporation.

However, in 74, Lei Shidong was only the owner of a car chain movie theater, and he was far less arrogant than later generations.

Xu Guanwu is now looking for Lei Shidong to cooperate, because he knows that Lei Shidong is very ambitious and believes in the principle of "content is king", and he is not willing to just be a downstream academician.

At the end of the 80s, just as the Reagan administration lifted the ban, he immediately acquired Paramount, the largest film company.

Because Paramount has a large library of more than [-] films, which is exactly what Redstone urgently needs.

Now what Xu Guanwu can provide is exactly what he needs most.

(End of this chapter)