Hollywood Road

In a reception room of the Death Star Building, Reed Hastings sat on the sofa, chatting enthusiastically with the CAA agent Bill Roses opposite, while waiting for the director to appear.

Five minutes before the agreed time between the two parties, the door of the reception room was opened from the outside, and a tall young man in formal clothes walked in. Of course, Reed Hastings recognized the face and stood immediately. When he got up, the young man obviously recognized him, accelerated his feet, and showed a polite smile on his face.

Now that he was asking for help, Reed Hastings hurriedly took a few steps forward and proactively extended his right hand, "Hey, Murphy, we meet again."

"Hello, Reid."

Murphy shook his hand hard, the two sides had also touched before.

Bill Rossis came over at this moment, "Sit down and talk."

The three people sat on the adjacent sofas, and Reed Hastings laughed and said, "I heard that Murphy, your new film has been post-production, and the online rental copyright must be given to Netflix. I booked it first. what."

"We have been working together very happily." Murphy also laughed. "But the copyright of this film is not in Stanton Studios. You need to talk to Twentieth Century Fox."

Reed Hastings knew the value of the Hollywood director and added, "We can continue to extend the copyright agreement between Netflix and Stanton Studios."

Several films that Stanton Studios hold copyrights, such as "The Lost Lovers", are popular films on the online rental market.

"That's okay." Murphy adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position. "I will let the head of Stanton Studio contact you."

Watching Murphy talking and laughing with Reed Hastings, Bill Rossis remained silent most of the time, only to say a few words when Murphy needed it.

He had given the information of Reed Hastings to Murphy a long time ago, and with Murphy's character he would not ignore him.

As early as a few years ago, Reed Hastings had contact with Murphy, but at that time Netflix was still immature in content production, so Murphy dragged down their request for cooperation and took advantage of it. Here comes the right to adapt that political novel.

Sometimes things always follow a certain track. In August of this year, Netflix's people contacted Bill Rossis. Not only did they want to continue working with Murphy, they also wanted the right to adapt the political novel. , I want to make this novel into a series to open the way of content production.

Murphy knows very well that Netflix is ​​a very ambitious company, and it has also accumulated considerable strength.

Especially Reed Hastings, who is sitting next to him, is very enthusiastic. It's just that he has asked for Stanton's studio. In fact, this is a very amazing person.

In November last year, the US "Fortune" magazine named the 2010 "Business Man of the Year". Reed Hastings won this title for successfully promoting the transformation of Netflix from an online DVD rental business to an online film and television service provider.

In April of this year, the US "Time" on Thursday named the top 100 most influential people in the world in 2011, and Reed Hastings ranked third.

In addition to co-founding Netflix and serving as the co-chairman and CEO of the company's board of directors, Reed Hastings is also a member of Microsoft's board of directors.

No matter how you look at it, this is definitely a successful person. Murphy knows this very well and will not underestimate Netflix just because Reed Hastings wants him.

Moreover, Netflix is ​​considered to be a company that has the potential to revolutionize the Hollywood distribution industry.

Even, in the eyes of many people, Netflix's model is the future of the film and television industry.

On the North American Internet, there is a widely circulated saying about Netflix. A long time ago, there was a company called Blockbuster that dominated the rental industry for many years.

Someone named Reed Hastings rented a disc there. As a result, he was hacked for a "large" overdue fee due to the overdue return. Then he went to work out angrily and found that the gym business model is very beautiful, no matter what You go more or less, and you can’t pay less than half of the membership fee.

Unfortunately, Reed Hastings is a software engineer who always wants to change the world. He has to do it when his idea comes. What's more unfortunate is that he had a start-up fund at the time, so he was angry and founded Nai Fei is also in the rental business, with no overdue fees and a membership system.

Today, thirteen years later, Netflix took Blockbuster to bankruptcy protection, and Reed Hastings took revenge.

Of course, it cannot be said that Blockbuster's fate is declining. In fact, he represents the past losing to the future, and obviously Netflix is ​​a kind of future.

"Murphy, I just heard Bill mention it," Reed Hastings looked at Bill Roses and continued to Murphy, "You intend to adapt Michael Dobbs's novel into a TV series, and continue Work with Fox Cable Network."

"I have this idea." Murphy nodded.

This kind of news was naturally deliberately let Bill Rossis release, but it was very bluffing, after all, his cooperation with Fox Television Network "Game of Thrones" achieved great success.

"Why not choose Netflix?" Reed Hastings said confidently, "Netflix has many advantages that traditional TV stations don't have."

Of course Murphy knows this, but he still said, "From the first release to the sales to the lease, I am a little worried about the Netflix promotion and distribution model that Reid you proposed. The current Internet bandwidth..."

Compared with the film industry, which has been deeply researched, his understanding of the North American Internet, especially in terms of technology, can only be said to be at the superficial stage. If he only judged by the news he saw on the Internet on the other side of the ocean at that time, There must be a problem with that head. Whether it is investment or development in this industry, it is not just a bit of random news from the Internet. Without in-depth understanding, you can turn your hands on the cloud and turn your hands on the rain.

Reed Hastings understood Murphy’s doubts and said, “Netflix’s technical team has spent four years solving all of this. We have a set of special coding procedures that can be tailored to the characteristics of each resource. , Refined processing, each film will get a different algorithm. This technology can save users 20% of the bandwidth, improve the quality of the picture, and solve the paradox of beauty. Netflix's engineers are willing to do How detailed is it? They think that even in the same episode, each episode is different, and each episode should have its own code."

The technical aspect is indeed Murphy's biggest worry, and it is also an important reason for dragging down Netflix's invitation last time. If the audience experience is not good, no matter how good a movie or series is, it is impossible to sell a good price.

This is an out-and-out business cooperation, Murphy must consider his own profit prospects.

Murphy's left index finger tapped his **** lightly, continuing to think about cooperation with Netflix.

He can wait, but Reed Hastings doesn't want to wait. Netflix's situation doesn't look as optimistic as it seems.

So, he added, "Murphy, Netflix is ​​very sincere to cooperate with you on this political drama."

After a short pause, Reed Hastings made a decision and said, "I have a suggestion."

"Please speak." Murphy turned to look at him.

Reed Hastings no longer hesitated and said directly, "Stanton Studios and Netflix each contributed 50% of the funds to film and produce this series. The series was promoted and distributed through Netflix channels. Netflix..."

He emphasized his tone, "For the benefits of the first two seasons of the series, Netflix and Stanton Studios can each get 50%, and it is the share before Netflix's channels and promotion costs are removed!"

Hearing this, Bill Rossis immediately raised his head and looked at Reed Hastings. Netflix really made a big concession.

Murphy didn't expect Reed Hastings to have such determination. If you look at it this way, Netflix's cooperation is full of sincerity.

Although in terms of the proportion of investment, both parties are 50% each, but Netflix is ​​also responsible for the promotion and distribution channels. If the revenue is divided into half...

"Let's do it..." Murphy thought for a while, and said cautiously, "Reid, I need some time to think about it."

Reed Hastings nodded, "No problem. But Murphy, can you give me a specific time?"

Murphy stopped tapping his fingers, "Before December, I will give you a clear answer at the end of this month."

Such favorable conditions for cooperation, if you say that he is not tempted, it must be fake.

"Okay!" Reed Hastings could see that Murphy's intention to cooperate has become stronger. He stood up and said, "I hope we have a chance to cooperate!"

Murphy also stood up and offered to extend his hand, "I hope so too."

Reed Hastings shook his hand and said, "I will now go back to Netflix's headquarters to prepare for our cooperation."

Hearing this, Murphy did not answer, but said, "I have made a decision and will let Bill inform you."

Although the conditions offered by Reed Hastings are generous enough, Murphy can’t just listen to him and make decisions in a hurry. Business in this world is always full of intrigue, and all capital is for chasing. He must first understand why Reed Hastings and Netflix are willing to make so many concessions, whether there are some circumstances that he does not understand, and even possible business traps.

Murphy is not a five or six-year-old kindergarten child, and of course he doesn't make decisions just by scratching his head.

Sending Reed Hastings away, Murphy Bill Rossis said, "Provide me with Netflix's information for the last two years as soon as possible, the more detailed the better."

After Murphy explained Bill Rossis, he dialed the lawyer Robert's phone and prepared to learn more about Netflix's situation through various channels.

After all, Netflix is ​​a listed company, and its main business is online services for film and television works. Murphy got a lot of information at noon the next day.