I’m in Hollywood

The information collected by Caroline and Melanie in recent days has basically been brought to the plane.

Eric listened to the advice of both of them and asked them to bring the information. The three men discussed it in more depth.

As the North American film market has become more and more prosperous in recent years, the total number of screens in major theaters in North America has exceeded 36,000 in 1997, an increase of almost 10,000 compared with ten years ago. The large increase in the number of screens will inevitably lead to market saturation. As well as various problems such as increased competition, small-scale cinemas with poor strength have been annexed and integrated by several major cinema giants.

Up to now, the top three theaters in North America, Regal Entertainment, AMC and Cinemark, have expanded over the years and have more than 14,000 screens of the highest commercial value in North America, making them the three most competitive commercial theater groups in the United States. Although the number of screens owned by other small cinemas, art theaters or local cinemas is still far more than the sum of the three, the cinemas of these second and third streams basically have remote cinemas, outdated equipment and insufficient sources. A variety of dilemmas, completely unable to compete with the three major cinema giants.

If the Firefly Group abandoned the Big Three and launched acquisitions with other small theaters, it would be better to build a chain of cinemas from scratch. Even the top three theaters, due to over-expansion over the years, have more or less problems. The first-ranked Regal Entertainment has more than 7,000 screens, but among the top three, The business situation is the worst, and there is even the risk of bankruptcy in the next few years.

On the surface, Regal Entertainment seems to be the best acquisition target for the Firefly Group, but if the Firefly Group really does this, it will cover more than 7,000 screens in prime locations in major North American cities, all outside of Hollywood, the Firefly System. The film company is estimated to be restless. The other two, although the number of screens are around three or four thousand, but the fireflies want to intervene, they will still face anti-monopoly problems.

In the study, Melanie showed Eric a message and said: "Eric, you see, the three cinema entertainment groups, there are several sub-brands, just like Regal Entertainment, its son There are three brands, Regal-Cinemas, Edwards-Theaters-UnitedArtistsTheaters. We can actually adopt this sub-brand operation mode and cooperate with one of the first three theaters. I think it is best to be Regal Entertainment. After completing another big merger, although the number of screens has expanded to more than 7,000, due to rising debt ratios and chaotic management, the company has been losing money for the past two years. What we have to do is from their theater. The company selected a number of screening halls, and the Firefly Group adopted a capital injection model to transform into a sub-brand that exclusively plays 3D movies."

The biggest reason why Eric entered the cinema industry was to promote 3D movies in advance and find a new profit growth point for the firefly system. On the other hand, he also hopes to lead the promotion process of 3D movies.

In the past, the popularity of 3D movies can only be described as chaotic.

In the early days of "Avatar", many Hollywood blockbusters already have a 3D version. However, compared to the huge movie market in North America, the source of 3D movies has always been described as scarce. Without enough 3D sources, the number of 3D screens in North America will naturally not develop, and the number of 3D screens will be insufficient, which will also curb the motivation of filmmakers to make 3D versions of their films.

After "Avatar", driven by huge interests, several major film companies in North America and major theaters began to make 3D movies and rebuild 3D theaters.

This kind of behavior has naturally caused the quality of 3D film source and cinema 3D projection system. Even the quality of most 3D film sources and 3D cinemas is very poor. This makes the audience not only do not accept 3D movies further, but gradually This film mode has a resentment.

As long as the 3D film source and cinema projection system reach the standard, the visual experience of 3D movies is absolutely shocking. At the same time, it can also drive viewers who are more and more inclined to watch movies on TV or online platforms to re-enter the cinema.

What Eric wants to do now is to put the promotion of 3D movies into a benign development track instead of being used by cinemas and filmmakers who are over-purchasing profits, using low-quality projection systems and rough conversion sources. This new form of film is gradually ruined.

Patiently discussed with Melanie and Caroline, Eric finally said: "So, this sub-brand is called RealD."

Both women have a puzzled look: "RealD?"

Eric nodded, RealD, in fact, is the most popular 3D movie projection system in the original time and space.

The biggest problem with 3D movie screening is usually brightness.

Unlike 2D movies, 3D movies will be used in 3D projectors, large screens, and 3D glasses during the screening process, which will result in a significant reduction in film brightness. There is a special unit for the brightness of the movie screen, called FL (foot-Lamberts), the traditional 2D movie, because there is not much attenuation factor, the brightness can easily reach 14FL, but after three attenuation of 3D movies, the usual brightness is only There is about 4.5FL left. In order to extend the life of the projector's high-voltage xenon bulbs, many theaters even deliberately reduce the brightness, which further reduces the brightness of 3D movies, giving viewers a black and bad viewing experience.

In the face of the chaos in the 3D movie market, RealD later developed not only a special RealD projection system, but also a set of special RealD certification standards. The most important one is to stipulate that the brightness of the theater when playing 3D movies is not allowed. Below 6FL.

What Eric wants to do at this time is to establish a set of special 3D film certification standards from the beginning. To this end, he also inquired about the status of RealD, but found that the company has not yet been established. In this case, Eric did not hesitate to take the name.

"RealD, you can understand the meaning of real 3D," faced with the confusion of the two women, Eric picked up the pencil next to him and wrote the new word RealD in the blank space of the file before, and then said: "Not only this Sub-brand, I hope that the 3D film projection system developed in the digital field also uses this name. At the same time, we have to set a set of 3D movie playback standards in advance. In the future, if you want to get a copy of the Firefly System 3D movie, the relevant theater must pass Our standard certification."

After listening to Eric, Melanie immediately nodded and smiled. "This is a good way."

She thought that Eric did this, mainly to monopolize the 3D movie market.

Carolyn apparently thought that Eric was the kind of mind, and the face also showed a guilty expression of doing bad things.

However, Eric did not have such a plan in mind.

In the early stage of 3D movie promotion, as long as the 3D film quality and cinema playback standards are controlled, the Firefly system can naturally enjoy the exclusive profit for a long time with the advantage of technology and cinema resources. However, in the extremely open film market in Europe and the United States, other film companies have seen the benefits of fireflies, and naturally will follow suit. Fireflies basically have no possibility of monopolizing the 3D movie market.

Moreover, Eric does not want the fireflies to monopolize the interests of this aspect. Eating food for a long time will definitely lose the motivation to move forward. Introducing competition is the best choice for keeping the firefly system alive.

I unknowingly discussed for a few hours. At dinner time, Eric kept his promise to prepare food for everyone. Caroline and Melanie stayed in the study and continued to sort out the results of the discussion. The Eric After planning to get off the plane, he discussed the detailed implementation plan with the group management in Los Angeles.

Not only from the 3D projection system to the theater certification standard RealD, Eric also initially discussed with the two women a code called ‘4200’.

In the next two to three years, Eric hopes that the Firefly Group will establish 2,000 standard-certified 3D screens in North America and overseas. This is 4000 in the '4200'. As for 200, it is another IMAX theater program.

At present, there are 54 IMAX screens in North America, which are basically distributed in museums or science museums in major cities. Moreover, the number of IMAX screens is now no more than 100 worldwide.

Two years ago, after watching the IMAX documentary at the Natural History Museum in New York, Eric contacted IMAX in Canada, urging them to speed up the technical development of the common 35mm film-converted IMAX film. Before that, the duration of the IMAX film. It has been limited to about forty or fifty minutes.

According to the information obtained by Caroline and Melanie from IMAX a few days ago, IMAX has been developing DMR (Digital Original Copy) technology to convert the film of normal duration into IMAX film by the next year. .

Since it is necessary to produce Gravity, Eric will naturally not let go of the IMAX projection mode that can maximize the visual appeal of this space epic movie.

Therefore, while building 4,000 3D screens, Eric also plans to build 100 IMAX theaters in North America and overseas.

Eventually, when the plane landed in London, Eric discussed the 'RealD' and '4200' plans with the Firefly executives through a video conference at the Kensington Garden Street in London, far from Los Angeles's Kasenberg and Frank. Wells and others could not help but secretly scream.

In Eric's plan, the RealD projection system that needs to be developed in the digital field must abandon the stand-alone 3D projectors at the moment, and adopt a dual-machine 3D projection mode that can greatly increase the brightness and reduce the stun of the audience, which means that each 3D The cost of retrofitting the auditorium may eventually reach $300,000. The cost of retrofitting a single auditorium is naturally nothing, but the transformation of 4,000 3D auditoriums around the world will cost at least $1.2 billion, not to mention the later operating costs.

Similarly, 200 IMAX theaters were built from scratch, even at a cost of $2 million per household, which is also a $400 million expense.

In this way, in order to promote 3D and IMAX, the total investment that the Firefly Group needs to pay will not be less than 1.6 billion US dollars, not to mention the later operating costs are also huge.

The $1.6 billion, although unable to buy the No. 1 Regal entertainment line in North America, but the second and third place in the acquisition of AMC, Cinemark theater is more than enough. Eric has been deliberately suppressing the expansion of the Firefly Group in the last two years. Therefore, Kasenberg’s high-level efforts to make the Firefly Group continue to grow and develop are actually in full swing, but I really saw Eric’s With the new expansion plan, they inevitably picked up their hearts.

In order to promote 3D and IMAX, which have no clear market prospects at the moment, a one-time investment of 1.6 billion US dollars is really worth it?

What if I fail?

Eric naturally understands Kasenberg's mentality. This mentality is actually the main reason why 3D and IMAX have not been widely promoted for many years to come. No company can completely see the market prospects. Investing $1.6 billion for such a project. After all, the other big Hollywood, if the operating conditions are not good enough, the profit of several years will not necessarily have $1.6 billion.

Since Eric has invested heavily in the Nasdaq market in the last two years, the firefly's balance of profits this year is absolutely not $1.6 billion, and may even fall below $1 billion.

In all fairness, if it is not clear that the future can be seen, Eric will not dare to invest $1.6 billion in the two plans in his hands. The money is not from the wind, and he has never used money to fight. Thoughts.

In the study room of Kensington Garden Villa, Eric sat in the office chair and looked at the video conference screen with a hesitation and exhortation on the face of Kasenberg and others in Los Angeles. Eric knocked down the table. I hammered the voice: "Everyone, this is my decision. What you have to do is to act now from now on. First, within two years, I will see a perfect RealD projection system in the digital field and more. Excellent 3D conversion technology. Second, from now on, negotiate with major theaters in North America and overseas, and get the transformation contract for the 4000 3D auditoriums I need, once the digital field completes the development of RealD system, and we I can provide a film source for the 3D auditorium. I need to implement the 3D projection system of the 4,000 screens in the world within three months. Third, I will continue to urge IMAX to accelerate the development of DMR conversion technology. If IMAX needs money, give them. If the business doesn't go down, buy it. At the same time, you also buy land in the world's major cities, 4000 3D silver. At the same time that the curtain reconstruction is completed, I will also see 200 IMAX theaters. So, is there still a problem?"

Eric finished, his eyes fixed on a high-definition camera staring at a firefly group executive in Los Angeles.

In the minds of Kasenberg and others, Eric has never been a strong boss. But this time, thousands of miles apart, through the video conference screen, they can still see the determination in his eyes.

They glanced at each other and everyone no longer raised objections. Instead, they began to discuss the substantive issues that need to be resolved to complete the plan.