Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 266 The calculation behind "ET"
Regarding Gates' seemingly sincere heart-to-heart, Tang Huan cooperated with emotion, but the speed of his feet was not slow. He stopped and turned for more than half a circle, and discovered many interesting phenomena.

It can be said that Microsoft is also trying to develop products such as word processing software and spreadsheet software, and has a clear tendency to enter the field of office applications.

This is not simple. It means that Gates, who has always believed that system software such as BASIC is the main theme of the software industry, has begun to change his concept, and Microsoft's business philosophy and scope will also change accordingly.

In other words, Microsoft, just like in the original time and space, has come to the starting line of marching towards the software empire.

Interesting, Tang Huan murmured to himself, then continued to wander around until he reached the eighth floor, and was shocked to find that the office area at the end of the corridor in front was actually guarded by iron gates.

"Is this a financially important place?" Tang Huan raised his finger.

Judging from Tang Huan's demeanor in the past ten minutes, he has obviously discovered a lot of ways, and if he tries to pretend to be cover-up, it will be ridiculous.

Therefore, Gates explained very bachelorly: "In addition to language tools such as BASIC, Microsoft is also developing another product for IBM. Because they need to use several of their prototypes, they have adopted such a security system according to the requirements of the other party. measure."

"After all, it is a big company. The work process is really standardized, and it is a good example to learn from." Tang Huan praised hard.

Gates smiled helplessly, and secretly complained in his heart, "It's not that simple to want to learn. Let me tell you, IBM also required a layer of barbed wire to be installed on the ceiling, and even the safes for files were specially designed by IBM. which provided."

"By the way, the product you are talking about is the disk operating system of the IBM personal computer." Tang Huan turned to ask Gates. Seeing his surprised face, he explained with a smile, "My design ideas are in the Fangyuan computer." , naturally you are familiar with every corner of this field, so it’s not hard to guess, isn’t it?”

Gates smiled noncommittally, apparently acquiescing.

In fact, in the original time and space, Microsoft, which cooperated with IBM, did not sincerely keep it secret. After all, cooperating with Big Blue is something worth boasting about. At least it can improve the image of a small company. However, in order to prevent legal The risk had to be concealed.

Now Gates allowed Tang Huan to stand outside the iron gate and observe casually, which can explain this problem.

But soon someone dressed obviously different from Microsoft employees came over and asked Gates what was the matter.

"Nothing, I just want to see how long it will take you to come over and drive us away." Gates shrugged.

"Then please abide by our agreement, and don't bring irrelevant personnel here." The big and three rough guy on the opposite side said bluntly.

Tang Huan shook his head with a smile, walked away, and waited for Gates to catch up before asking, "DOS has reached the final internal testing stage, right?"

"VisiCalc, the spreadsheet software of Personal Software, and the financial software of Peachtree Company, have already been completed first." Gates said that he didn't answer the question, but the implication was that he admitted it.

In order to cover his ears and steal his bell at the level of legal risk, he was not tired of talking around like this.

Although Tang Huan doesn't know much about MS-DOS version 1.0, he guesses that it will definitely not surpass CP/M, and the progress of VisiCalc and Taoshu financial software is not limited to DOS, so you can know their functions, really fairly limited.

……

In Tang Huan's view, before and after the release of the IBM-PC, Microsoft and Gates will be two completely different types of existence, so while the other party still has the consciousness of being a younger brother, he plans to stay in Seattle for two days to study carefully. some.

Gates and others welcomed this very much. The most difficult development stage of DOS has passed, and they are no longer as anxious as before. They just want to relax and learn from Tang Huan's successful experience.

The Gates family is an upper-class person in Seattle. His grandmother set up a trust fund of 100 million US dollars when he was born. Paul's father is the deputy director of the library of the University of Washington. The superior family background allows them to enter a famous local private institution. School Lakeside School - Lakeside Middle School.

Therefore, these two local people entertained Tang Huan, it was like eating, drinking and having fun.

Tang Huan thought it was noisy, so the four of them set up a table and played bridge. Gates and Ballmer were in a group, and Tang Huan and Alan were in a group. The scene soon became stalemate.

Tang Huan prefers the current method to eating and playing foolishly, because he can see a lot of things from it.

For example, Gates and Ballmer cooperated extremely tacitly, suppressing the group of Tang Huan and Allen most of the time at the poker table.

Another example is that Gates is aggressive by nature, and he simply doesn't know what it means to quit when he sees a good deal or to retreat bravely. His card style is full of attack power.

After the game finally ended with Gates and Ballmer winning, Gates was clearly unsatisfied with the advantage he had gained, so he invited the battle: "We will continue tomorrow."

This is a feeling that the rich man who has won a net worth of 20 billion US dollars is very cool, and it is not enough.

Tang Huan laughed, "Of course there is no problem."

However, this plan failed to materialize the next day.

When Tang Huan was talking about the trend of the software industry in Microsoft Corporation, Don Estridge, who was supposed to stay in Boca Raton, Florida, unexpectedly made an uninvited, unexpected visit. I don’t know if the engineer from IBM tipped off the news yesterday,

"Ha, I didn't expect Don to be here too." Don Esterlich pretended to say hello.

"I'm here to talk about the cooperation. Are you here to check and accept the project?" Tang Huan tried imperceptibly.

"This is a commercial secret, and there is no comment." Don Estridge was quite vigilant and was not fooled.

Gates, who was in the middle of the cracks, was in a dilemma at the time. How could the two of you get together here at Microsoft? If you fell out, it might hurt others.

Fortunately, God did Gates a favor. After the assistant sent a fax, Tang Huan got up and left.

……

Stephen Spielberg, 35 years old this year, has become one of the top Hollywood directors with his 1975 "Jaws" and 1977 "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

He was bored while filming "Raiders of the Lost Ark" from June to September 1980, and his creative desire to make an autobiographical childhood film became stronger.

Therefore, Spielberg told the playwright Melissa Mathison of the main content of "Night Sky", which had been canceled, and asked her to develop another plot based on this.

It took Melissa Matheson 8 weeks to write the first draft, titled "ET and Me" - "ET and Me", and Spielberg was very satisfied with it.

Next, Melissa Matheson wrote two more versions, and Spielberg also provided his own ideas.

But just now, Spielberg met with representatives of Columbia Pictures, the former producer of "Night Sky," and discussed the script with great anticipation.

But the other party made it clear that he was not interested in such a "cowardly Walt Disney movie".

It really hurts my self-esteem, isn't it because my performance in the film "1979" directed by me in [-] was not satisfactory, which disappointed Columbia and Universal Pictures?

Spielberg, who was in a depressed mood, sighed, and planned to use his personal relationship to seek help from his own Bole, the president of Universal Pictures, Sid Hinberg.

At this moment, Andy Albert, the president of United Artists, suddenly came to the door, which surprised Spielberg.

Seeing Spielberg's expression, Andy Albert couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart, there's no other way, do you dare to run errands yourself without lowering your dignity for the things the big boss personally ordered?

After exchanging pleasantries, Andy Albert straight to the point stated his intention of coming, "Stephen, you should know that United Artists has changed to a new boss, that is, Don, who recently had a net worth of more than 20 billion US dollars on Nasdaq. Mr. He wants to ask you to direct a movie, what do you think?"
Spielberg subconsciously squeezed the folder in his hand, and asked, "So, United Artists has already selected the script?"

"No." Andy Albert shook his head, "Mr. Tang trusts your talent very much, what he means is that as long as you agree, you can find a script now, or if you have a suitable script in your hand, it will be easier Already, set up a project to shoot directly.”

Sure enough, I met a rich man, and his style of acting is very unrestrained.

However, Spielberg is not surprised, he has such an experience long ago.

"I do have a ready-made script here, why don't you take a look first." Spielberg suppressed his excitement and handed over the script.

What a coincidence, Andy Albert muttered in his heart, quickly took it, and looked at it seriously.

After reading through, he clicked his lips, not knowing how to comment, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Is there a market for this kind of Disney-style movie?
Since "Heaven's Gate" failed and lost everything, Andy Albert, who took the main responsibility, has become more cautious.

Of course, he would not express his opinion directly. After all, Spielberg was ordered by the boss himself. Perhaps letting the two meet in person would save a lot of trouble.

Seeing Andy Albert groaning for a while and being speechless, Spielberg's heart was half cold, and it seemed that he was going to be treated coldly again.

"This script is very creative." Andy Albert made a sloppy look, and changed the topic and said, "Stephen, why don't you talk to Mr. Tang face to face, he originally meant the same thing."

"Of course there is no problem." Spielberg, who has no choice at present, nodded. Columbia has clearly rejected it, and although United Artists did not immediately express its position, it does not mean that there is no chance.

……

Although Spielberg's aura was somewhat eclipsed because of the poor performance of the movie "[-]", Tang Huan knew that in a few months, Spielberg's "[-]" would be released. After Raiders of the Lost Ark was released and achieved great success, it will regain the trust of investors in Hollywood commercial films.

After careful calculation, Spielberg and Universal Pictures have a deep relationship.

When he was still in college, he got a job as an unpaid intern from Universal Pictures, and later met noble people, was appreciated and promoted by Sid Hinberg, and soon had the opportunity to be an independent director , until it emerges and becomes famous.

From Tang Huan's point of view, since Sid Schinberg and Universal dared to make trouble for EA, they should be prepared to bear the corresponding consequences.Although it came back in the end, the account has not been smoothed out, and it has to be settled.

If Spielberg can be snatched away from Sid Hinberg, the Bole, and then Universal loses the blockbuster movie "ET Aliens" that should have been released by itself, it will undoubtedly be an extremely pleasing thing.

Therefore, when Tang Huan saw the script titled "ET and Me", he was not disappointed like Andy Albert. Instead, he was relieved that this is "ET and Me".

"Since we already have a ready-made script, let's set up the project and shoot directly." Tang Huan looked very happy.

"Don, I must make a statement." Spielberg coughed lightly and reminded, "Mr. Albert, the president of United Artists, seems to have reservations about this script. The box office may be really bad in the future."

"It's okay, I like the childishness described in this work." Tang Huan waved his hand indifferently.

Although Tang Huan acted as if money can't buy me, seeing him appreciate the script very much, Spielberg couldn't help feeling a confidant, and the smile on his face became more sincere.

"Since Albert is a little worried, let's follow the independent producer method that United Artists is used to, and only let him be responsible for the distribution." After pondering for a while, Tang Huan made a decision. "Stephen, have you set up your own production company? If not, we will jointly set up one, and I will invest another 1000 million US dollars to shoot this movie, but the peripheral production and video game adaptation rights must be reserved for Haschild Treasure and EA."

Seeing that Spielberg was stunned, Tang Huan laughed loudly, "You must not be frightened by my greed, then these authorizations will be restricted, and those with the highest price will get it."

It's still the same reason, the time traveler is not necessarily the smartest, and the creativity around the movie has long been manipulated by people of this era.

It can be said that "Jaws" in 1975 and "Star Wars" in 1977 played an important demonstration role in the establishment of Hollywood's modern commercial blockbuster model.

When "Jaws" was released in North America on June 1975, 6, the number of screens was 20, which was already very impressive at the time. At the same time, Universal also invested a lot of marketing concepts related to advertising and hype.

As a result, countless merchandise attempts to capitalize on the movie's release winds, including soundtrack records, T-shirts, plastic cups, books about the making of the movie, the original novel about the movie, beach towels, blankets, shark-looking clothing, toy sharks, Hobby kits, games, posters, necklaces made of shark teeth, pajamas, water guns...

One of the board games, developed by a toy company, requires players to use a hook to pull out the contents of the shark before it closes its mouth.

Therefore, Spielberg was not too surprised by the side request made by Tang Huan. He was surprised that the other party seemed to have more confidence in the commercial value of this work than he did. Perhaps this is the relationship between billionaires and ordinary people. It is one of the differences between people. When doing things, you are qualified to make decisions based on your preferences.

"This will be a movie with children as protagonists. I'm afraid in terms of commercial returns, really..." Spielberg had to remind again.

Because he estimated that big Hollywood bosses like Tang Huan might only focus on the box office.

These days, with a box office of less than [-] million, it’s hard to call it a success.

At the beginning, "9000" had a box office of more than [-] million, which was close to breaking the [-] million mark. As a result, Columbia and Universal Pictures were disappointed.

Now I must learn from experience and lessons, and take preventive injections in advance, lest it will be difficult to end when the time comes.

"You don't have to worry so much. I really like this subject matter." Tang Huan dispelled the other party's concerns in a firm tone, and continued talking about starting an independent company to operate the film.

How to make Spielberg drift away from Sid Schinberg, who has the grace to support him, and then transplant this cash cow from Universal to United Artists?

There is no doubt that it is naturally a benefit.

Spielberg's friend George Lucas established Lucasfilm in San Francisco, California as early as 1971——Lucasfilm Co., Ltd., operating "American Graffiti" and "Star Wars", gaining both fame and fortune. Needless to say, he made a lot of money.

Moreover, "Raiders of the Lost Ark", which is directed by Spielberg and is currently in the post-production period, is George Lucas' producer, and it operates under the structure of Lucasfilm.

Tang Huan didn't believe it, and Spielberg was not envious of George Lucas's wealth.

It is true that Sid Schinberg and Universal promoted Spielberg, but it was only at the pure work level. Spielberg could not get rid of his identity as a migrant worker, and Tang Huan wanted to support Spielberg to become a Bosses and independent producers like George Lucas, to achieve revenge by poaching Sid Schinberg and Universal.

"This "ET" movie should be produced through this company." Tang Huan set the prerequisites calmly, "Just leave me 20.00% of the shares. The specific structure and other shareholders are up to you. Decide."

(End of this chapter)