Rewrite the Technological Landscape

Before and after the new year, Huaxia found out that the common people in general still have to live their lives. As long as they don’t lose their homes and invest in stocks, it’s not a big problem, but the situation in the United States is not so good. In 2008, the common people realized that something was not right, and more and more people had their loan problems collapsed, and then the traditional projects in the United States began, such as parades, such as strikes.

This is the culture of the United States, what to do when life is not good, make trouble.

Parades and strikes began to spread in various places, and some places were quite noisy, such as Hollywood.

On November 5, 2007, a large-scale screenwriter strike broke out in Hollywood, followed by the actors, and finally the logistics began to follow suit. This matter did not end until February 13, 2008, causing Hollywood to shut down for nearly half a year. .

In fact, it is not once or twice that Hollywood screenwriters go on strike, because the American Screenwriters Association is a pretty awesome association. At the same time, according to Hollywood, most screenwriters are usually very free, so anyway, the country’s economy is a little downturned. Go on strike, but This time the trouble was relatively big, because it not only caught up with the subprime mortgage crisis, but also happened to catch up with the development of Internet media, which gave the screenwriters a big appeal.

Hollywood is basically a form of buyout, that is, the money for the script is given. The money earned by the latter work has nothing to do with the screenwriter. In fact, it is not Hollywood, it is basically the same in the whole world.

However, with the development of Internet media, Hollywood screenwriters suddenly discovered that movies can be adapted from anime, adapted from games, and sold peripherals. The concept of IP is becoming clearer and more profitable. However, the subsequent profits It has nothing to do with the screenwriters. The screenwriters are on strike this time because they want follow-up dividends.

However, after more than 3 months of strikes, nothing changed in the end. The screenwriters got a little more salary, and the prices of digital media products went up. Users helped Hollywood Capital pay the scriptwriters’ extra salary.

And amidst the chaotic strike, one company is looking for a new direction: DreamWorks. DreamWorks owns Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Although it was only established in 1994, it has made great achievements in the film field in just a few years. In less than 10 years, he began to challenge the old Hollywood six.

However, the facts have proved that the achievements and status of the old six Hollywood companies are achieved step by step. The three DreamWorks think things are too simple. An entertainment empire cannot be realized by owning good works. The entertainment industry is not the same as the technology industry, and has high requirements for accumulation. Disney's 80-year history of accumulation cannot be surpassed by DreamWorks in seven or eight years.

No, the arrogance of DreamWorks made it difficult for the company to continue, and it had to be acquired by Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures, in 2005, but Spielberg is a very ambitious person, provided he really He is a very talented person. It was a very uncomfortable thing for him to change from a boss to a part-time worker. In addition, Viacom did do a lot of disgusting things after the acquisition, so the acquisition has not been completed for a year. He began to think about how to get rid of Viacom.

However, because DreamWorks had abolished all departments except film and animation in the past few years, and it had just been acquired and caught up with the subprime mortgage crisis, not many people were willing to help DreamWorks redeem itself. Spielberg finally found It is India's Reliance Group. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Group became the richest man in the world on October 29, 2007, that is, the owner whose daughter got married and let Beyoncé sing.

However, before looking for Reliance Group, Spielberg also looked for many other entrepreneurs. For example, in this life, Spielberg came to Meng Qian, and the referrer was Sony.

On January 2, 2008, Meng Qian invited Spielberg to China as a guest.

During the day, Meng Qian took Spielberg to visit the production center of Dafeng Films. The directors and screenwriters of Dafeng Films wanted Meng Qian to arrange an exchange meeting with Spielberg, but in Meng Qian's opinion Now Spielberg won't take out any dry goods, and this kind of communication will be meaningless, so he didn't arrange it and comforted his employees that there will be opportunities in the future.

The facts are indeed as Meng Qian thought. When he asked Spielberg how he felt after visiting the production center, Spielberg said all polite words. Meng Qian didn't bother to cover technical dry goods, and directly talked about business, "Mr. Spielberg has always said that movies are difficult to make. What made you sigh?"

Spielberg smiled wryly, "Because I was born in a tragic Jewish family, I have liked to create stories since I was a child. That was the beginning of my movie dream. What I did at that time was very simple, that is, to create For a good work, I hope that I can have greater influence, but when I really stand at a higher position, I find that creation has become a very restrictive thing.

Mr. Meng should be very clear that in the film industry, the creative team really doesn’t have much money to make, and the money is earned by investors. But if you say there is a problem with this, it’s actually okay. The cost of film production is getting higher and higher. High, and more than 70% of the films are now losing money. When the film makes money, the management is making money. When the film loses money, it is also the management that bears the loss. They take more risks, so they earn more. Profits, it makes sense.

But under this rationality, there will be an inexplicable shackles, that is, creators are always on the way to find capital. The film industry is a field that is highly dependent on capital, but the quality of the works is more and more determined by the creative team. decided, but the income limit of the creative team makes it difficult to become a capital, and there are very few teams that are both capital and creators. This is like an inexplicable vicious circle, making the film industry gradually change Somewhat deformed. "

"That's why Mr. Spielberg wants to make DreamWorks bigger." Meng Qian directly probed, "Only when DreamWorks becomes an empire like Disney can we be ourselves."

Spielberg immediately agreed, "Yes, in fact, the number of movies that Disney loses every year exceeds the industry average, but Disney is no longer a simple producer. They have the capital to try and make mistakes. ability to invest.”

"In fact, in a sense, this thing is the same as the research and development of our technology companies. What do small companies use for research and development when they can't survive? It's just that small companies don't need to go out to attract investment for every product. Sometimes it can be self-sufficient, but for the film industry, especially when it comes to the production standards of DreamWorks, it is indeed inevitable to rely on capital." Meng Qian followed Spielberg's words, "So you want to Get rid of Viacom because Viacom failed to give DreamWorks what it wanted."

Meng Qian has always been on the same channel with Spielberg, and the communication is very smooth, "After Viacom acquired DreamWorks, the first thing to do was to include "Saving Private Ryan", "American Beauty", "War of the Worlds" Some of the copyrights of works such as "Cat and Mouse Game" were sold to Soros's entertainment company at a price of 900 million."

Meng Qian smiled, "Viacom is really ignorant."

These words made Spielberg's heart move, and he immediately followed up with the words, "Then what does Mr. Meng think about DreamWorks?"

"When I heard Sony say that DreamWorks wanted to find a reliable investor, to be honest, my first reaction was a little distressed. Our company has been involved in the cultural industry since its inception, and this year has been the eighth year. , I am very aware of the hardships involved. I like to speak straight. The most fundamental reason why I am willing to meet Mr. Spielberg today is that I appreciate your talent.

"Alien E.T.", "Schindler's List", and "Jurassic Park" series are all works I like very much. I see the most shining thing of creators in your works, focus.

I have always respected great creators and hoped to provide a better platform for great creators, so when I learned about the current situation of DreamWorks, I began to consider whether there is any possibility between us and DreamWorks chemical reaction.

I believe that if the Gale Group simply provides money to help Mr. Spielberg solve the immediate problems, this is not what Mr. Spielberg wants. "

Meng Qian's words made Spielberg suddenly a little embarrassed, because what he is looking for now is actually a silly and sweet investor, a manager who is only responsible for investing money and waiting for dividends. The reason why Spielberg chose India Reliance Group, because Reliance Group met his conditions, although Reliance Group is the major shareholder of DreamWorks, but no matter what, the decision-making power is handed over to Spielberg, and they are only responsible for making money.

But this is not the result Meng Qian wants. If DreamWorks is really acquired, Meng Qian needs decision-making power, and he wants to integrate DreamWorks into Dafeng Films. If Spielberg is allowed to operate independently, it is simply nonsense.

And Spielberg is actually a very standard Jew, he is talented and sentimental, but his childhood experience let them know that people must have money and power, so he is as commercial and pure as many Jews, is a contradiction.

So from a certain point of view, Spielberg has been nurtured by the business environment over the years to become a standard commercial director. Today, he showed his feelings in front of Meng Qian, which has a sincere element, but also has a commercial purpose.

But if Meng Qian only talked about business, he felt that it would be difficult for him to persuade Spielberg to work for him. After all, Spielberg could indeed find a manager who was purer than himself and didn't care about things. Therefore, Meng Qian had to show his feelings instead.

Therefore, Meng Qian had no choice but to act in front of this world-class director.