Ace Hollywood

Strictly speaking, it was the first time Daniel entered the mpaa conference room in Los Angeles.

This is what the chairman of the association, Christopher told him, that Ron Mayer and Melissa Lane, and even David and others have represented MGM at the conference - essentially a consortium of MGM and dd Pictures . Daniel has also listened to many reports on the cooperation agreement within mpaa, from many sources, sometimes the head of mpaa's permanent organization, sometimes his subordinates, mpaa is definitely not an idle organization, except for its ratings The department has been busy outside. It also needs to formulate a lot of important proposals to design the film industry, usually these proposals will be submitted to the California congressmen, and then through them to the State Department for implementation or discussion, to help the Hollywood film industry in North America Gain more advantages in other industries.

Hollywood's enemies are definitely not limited to European or Asian film counterparts. In fact, these forces do not make Hollywood feel at all in danger at present. Their biggest enemy is other industries. The state has limited funds and limited policies. Compared with other industries that also require the government, Hollywood is very special, but it is not huge. This means that there is a lack of hard power, so expressing your huge influence advantage is a natural step that should be taken - including sometimes seeing a lot of Hollywood stars stand up against the government, or support a certain argument, behind the scenes It's hard to say there is no Mpaa acting. There is indeed no shortage of mavericks in the United States, but there are definitely not many, especially when faced with an industry-dominant association such as mpaa, few people can stand up.

As the core force behind mpaa, Daniel, of course, is well aware of these contents. In fact, the huge influence he has in the political world is also an effective channel that mpaa often borrows - this will not make Daniel owe so-called favors or the like, and the governors or congressmen who cooperate with Hollywood are relatively easier to obtain. Concern - in an elected society. The people don't know what you are, and if you have a reputation, you can easily gain trust and votes. This is why, while Hollywood stars have been admonished from the beginning to avoid explicit involvement in politics, there are still countless stars willing to take sides on social issues. Except for someone like George Clooney, who is interested in gaining political status. Celebrities are sometimes asked to support politicians interested in gaining influence, as Democrats have been lobbying for Daniel.

When Daniel entered the conference room, Robert Iger was not there, nor was Brad Gray. But he saw Dick Cook and a senior vice president at Paramount, apparently. Those two either avoided it intentionally or were indeed at the wrong time.

Christopher is clearly trying to de-escalate today's tensions, with a number of agendas that everyone can easily agree on. For example, asking Congress to make a decision on the issue of online piracy - this is an old saying, the characterization of the online world is still uncertain, and some unauthorized video and music works are distributed for free on the Internet - this of course brings a lot to the content providers. big loss. mpaa has been working hard for this requirement for a long time.

Except for Mike Linton's casual remark, "Daniel should make some efforts on this", in general, the atmosphere was relatively calm when entering the issue of dd Films.

Before Christopher could speak, Daniel glanced at Mike Linton—Sony and Warner were clearly the two studios that suffered the most, with more than half of Hollywood's film and TV rights. In particular, Warner's MGM film library is exclusively licensed. At present, there is no conflict between the interests of the two parties after the transaction, which means that the interests of the infringement on the Internet now belong to Warner Bros.

"MGM or DD have no lobbying business, Mike, we can't take this order."

Daniel's response basically made Christopher's previous work useless. Mike Linton did not continue to speak. His plan was nothing more than hoping to suppress Daniel's momentum at the beginning, so that the subsequent negotiations could proceed more smoothly. Unfortunately. Daniel, who is not a three-year-old, understands his tricks very well, and responds to him neatly.

"Okay." Christopher opened his folded palms and faced these top Hollywood figures. "Sony and Paramount have both submitted a report to the association, and they believe that if dd Pictures tries to reach a deep core cooperation with China's film industry, it will have a huge long-term impact on Hollywood, and everyone should get dd pictures. explain."

"Yes, Paramount is worried about that, very worried." Rob Moore. Paramount's global vice president in charge of overseas business, concluded Christopher's words, "I think one thing, Mr. **** will not deny that mainland China will be a big booming market. There is still a gap between the big votes, but everyone knows how much potential a country with 1.3 billion people has, and every move involving China should be cautious enough."

"So Paramount decides how to govern this future big market?"

It wasn't Daniel who asked the question, it was Dick -- from Disney Studios.

Moore was a little surprised, but he clearly did his homework, "Yes, I understand, limited by the Chinese government's restrictions on foreign films and its size, the profit we can make from the Chinese market is limited right now. But our approach to other markets is limited. It will also help us ultimately win the Chinese market.”

Daniel smiled contemptuously, "Rob, it's nice to see you here."

Of course, no one could see his joy.

"If we get it wrong, your so-called way to conquer other markets is to put pressure on China through the secretary of state and diplomatic channels to open up the movie import market and then let Hollywood movies go, like a jaguar breaking into a sheep farm In that way, harvest the Chinese box office?"

After a pause, Daniel looked at Moore.

Moore had to nod, this is the successful model of Hollywood in Europe, Japan, Taiwan and other markets.

"Too stupid!" Watching Moore's face slowly showing disbelief, Daniel repeated with certainty, "Moore, you are too stupid."

“China is not Europe, nor Japan, a country of 1.3 billion people who beat the U.S. in North Korea and Vietnam, and our decades-long blockade against them has not affected anything in this country. They have very different values ​​from ours. , or in the words of those politicians in Washington. They are not a democracy, of course, everyone knows that democracy is a joke. Moore. Do you understand? Even under the pressure of free trade, they provide more import quotas, first of all, In the beginning, the United States had to make concessions in other industries - dealing with China. Only transactions, coercion is ineffective. Which industry allows its own interests to be ceded? Manufacturing? Agriculture? Oil giants? Second, there are countless Chinese people means to deal with us, if you go to China to show, the Chinese have the right to determine when you show - and then they put several, a dozen Hollywood movies in the same month, well, at this time you can get How much box office will it get? "Titanic", "Jurassic Park", "The Lord of the Rings is a Trilogy", "Pirates of the Caribbean" and so on are released on the same day. Think about it, they can still get 300 million, 400 million yuan in North America. 100 million? What a naive dream."

"Yes, maybe you would say. One day, our lord secretary of state will make a leap, they will completely open up their market, let you release it yourself, set your own release plan - so, when is that? Ten years? Twenty years? Or thirty years? So Hollywood is going to wait like that for thirty years? Waiting for an indeterminate answer, or an aggressive, already powerful Chinese movie?"

Daniel stood up, his eyes were sharp and his face was cold. His tall and sturdy stature made him very imposing.

He waved his arm.

"Moore, tell me, what is Paramount going to do?"

Rob Moore was obviously caught off guard. He had an exchange with Daniel at the party. But it was a well-mannered, very gentleman Daniel Sandler, very different from the sharp, even aggressive Daniel of today. As for the topic of opening the Chinese market, even Capitol Hill is helpless, let alone him, the vice president of Paramount.

"Maybe, I mean maybe you have some truth in what you say. But funding our adversary is a crime. I stand by it." Moore wisely avoided confrontation with Daniel, and he looked at Mike Linton. "Mike, You'll support that, won't you?"

Mike put down the Cuban cigar he was pinching between his index and middle fingers. It wasn't lit because the room was largely non-smoking because of the Stasi. Many Hollywood ladies were tobacco lovers, but the Stasi hated it.

"Yes, Daniel, you are right." Mike said affirmatively, but shook his head, "But you can't believe that the time to compromise is today."

Moore's eyes lit up, he relaxed his body, and listened to Mike continue.

"Maybe, maybe Hollywood will one day have to compromise with China like the auto industry. But not now, now we still have the capital to wait, what do you think? China's annual box office is only less than 300 million, and we don't have to give up at this time. To sell one's own vital interests. Later, later, it is appropriate."

"Daniel, I understand your intention to make dd Pictures develop faster." Mike's voice even sounded sincere, "You have always been doing this, the legendary dd Pictures and f2f are all you. Great achievement. So if you're going to go to China to gain some goodwill and give the Chinese some exciting moments. I don't object, I don't think anyone will object, even, if you need it, we can help, you have to let A few stars or senior executives go to their Shanghai International Film Festival. But the core collaboration, no, it's not the time. Daniel, we're telling you this seriously. No one should betray Hollywood."

The meeting room fell silent.

Mike Linton is far more persuasive than Rob Moore.

Daniel was still standing, his handsome face so familiar to everyone was not a bit depressed, and Daniel looked around at everyone.

"Mike said, we still have time." Daniel sat down again and told everyone calmly, "No, we don't have time, five years."

Daniel held out an open hand.

"It only takes five years, 2007-2008-2009-2010-2011, and then in 2012, the sixth year, China will surpass Japan and become the second largest box office market after the United States."

"Are you crazy, are you saying that China with less than 300 million will surpass Japan with 2.5 billion in five years?"

Even Jeff of Warner Bros., Bill of Fox, and Stasi of Universal, who had been quiet all the time, all focused on watching.

"This is dd's forecast data, and it is also an instruction for us to take all actions." Daniel's complexion is getting softer, but his language is getting harder and harder, "dd never goes against his own judgment - just like our investment in "Greek Wedding" Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hangover, and the Saw franchise. Regardless of today's outcome, dd's actions will remain undisturbed."

Before we entered the conference room, they had all thought about what they would do if Daniel went his own way.

But now, when Daniel said these words, they did feel the unprecedented pressure.

Daniel, a living legend in Hollywood!

All of his accomplishments have accumulated power, power, and credibility for him, layer by layer.

At this moment, when he said lightly that he would not be moved, the unified action of everyone was to keep silent.

"With the full support of dd Pictures, how many years will it take for Chinese movies to catch up with Hollywood?" Stasi, the only lady broke the deadlock and silence, and everyone was relieved, except Daniel. He understands that people are thinking about his predictions and previous remarks, and the longer it takes, the better for him.

"If there was that moment, it should have been in the unseen future ~www.wuxiamtl.com~ Dick Cook made a comical face.

"Yeah, that's going to be a far off story. If, if, it's hard to believe, so I say if, in five years, China is the second-largest box office market after the U.S. Now let dd in Among them, isn't it a good thing? At least when the dd film industry profits from it, the Chinese government will not be able to exclude other American films."

"Stasi, this is too risky."

"When Sony bought Columbia Samsung, did you think it was a risk?" Stasi looked at Mike Linton, "I believe that Hollywood people thought it was too risky at that time, whether it was for you or us. In fact, not so Seriously, isn't it? Sony has become one of our members. I think dd's entry into China will eventually provide the impetus for Hollywood movies to go global, and make the Chinese market a place where Hollywood movies can make money."

Rob Moore looked at the few who nodded slightly and understood that Paramount couldn't take revenge here.

Marvel Studios started filming its own "The Incredible Hulk," and indefinitely shelved its package-and-distribution deal with Paramount, which is now busy looking for new opportunities. (To be continued.)