America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 250 249. Excellent works from all over the world are here

"Fight for your dreams!"

After waking up, many people found that the environment around them had changed. Countless information attacked and surrounded them, and these information were the advertisements of Lionheart.

After a few days of preparation, under the model of MGM's big money-spending, the roar of the lion could be heard in any larger city in the United States.

On the billboards at bus stations and subway stations, the window booths of major supermarkets, and the walls of every public toilet, workers were busy posting posters.

The Empire State Building, Times Square, the Nasdaq screen, and the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Except for the Statue of Liberty and Capitol Hill, which do not sell advertising space to the public, major landmark buildings across the country are echoing the roar of the golden lion.

As the world's strongest online search engine and portal website, Google and Yahoo are also not immune.

MGM directly spent 30 million US dollars on the former and 15 million US dollars on the latter, requiring them to give Lionheart the best advertising treatment within half a month.

As long as netizens log in to these two websites, they will be bombarded with advertisements in the interface and engine.

The religious disputes that have always occupied the mainstream position have also been temporarily pushed down.

Facebook and YouTube have even directly launched official promotion activities. As long as you forward Lionheart Network's advertisements and get a certain number of likes, you can get a free membership of Lionheart Network at different stages for one month.

In addition, registered users of Facebook and YouTube have preferential policies. As long as you log in to the two websites for 7 consecutive days and stay online for half an hour every day, you can buy Lionheart Network membership at half the price.

The main theme is a linkage, mutual promotion, and no one loses.

Unlike Facebook and YouTube, which are purely burning money in the early stage, Lionheart Network is charged for its launch. Eric has set several levels for membership.

He referred to the charging standards of major cable TV stations and also set a continuous step-by-step charging standard for Lionheart Network.

First, the lowest-level membership charges only $6.99 per month, which is $2 less than the lowest-priced basic cable TV station AMC on the market. It is absolutely a super conscience price.

Of course, spending less money also comes at a price, the price is that you can only watch it under one IP at a time, the highest picture quality can only be 720P, and you have to watch ads.

This ad is similar to Huaxia's. There are boot ads, interface ads, pre-view ads, and big data screening ads. In short, except for the process of watching the film, you have to watch it at other times.

But it is not as crazy as Huaxia. One ad is two minutes long, which is really a mess. Lionheart's ads are generally no more than 15 seconds.

Another point that is better than Huaxia is that its 720P picture quality is really 720P, unlike the other side of the ocean, which is a castrated version.

Everyone knows how disgusting video websites such as Youku, Tudou, and iQiyi are. They say they are 720P, but they are actually only 480P. They say they are 1080P, but they are actually worse than 720P.

The lowest level is for those poor people, poor students, and those who want to try new things but have plenty of time, and then there are standard members.

The fee is $9.99, which is $3 higher, $1 more than AMC, but I dare to charge more than you, and I have my reasons.

First, I am confident that the quality of movies and TV series is better than yours, and second, standard members start to be ad-free, without any ads, while basic cable TV stations such as AMC have ads.

Standard members can choose the highest 1080P definition quality, and can watch on up to two IPs at the same time.

Couples only need to open one, and can also share with friends and family, which is very cost-effective.

Then there is the top membership package, which is benchmarked against high-end cable TV stations such as HBO, and charges $12.99 per month, which is the same as HBO.

Eric originally considered whether it would be more attractive to use $11.99, but when communicating with his father, his father suggested that it was not necessary.

Because those who are willing to buy the premium membership package will not care about the $1 difference. What they really care about is the service level and the quality of movies and TV series. Price wars are almost ineffective for this group of users.

And if you set the price too low now, what will you do when you want to raise the price in two years?

It is not okay to increase the price too much at one time. The industry's default unspoken rule is that the price increase should not exceed 2 US dollars at a time. This is the user psychology that has been explored for many years.

So Eric decided to set the price at 12.99 US dollars to confront HBO, a former partner.

Premium members are still free of ads, and the highest picture quality has been improved from 1080P to Blu-ray. It supports up to 4 IPs to watch at the same time, which is enough for a family.

Blu-ray technology was only fully rolled out in the market last year. It is an emerging technology and many people don’t know it yet.

In the current market environment, this is already the top picture quality that ordinary people can access, and it is also a point to attract users.

In addition, premium members also provide a function that seems very amazing now, that is, support for downloading! As long as it is a work on Lionheart.com, you can download it at will, without any restrictions.

This function will have a huge impact on DVD sales, but it doesn’t matter. Anyway, DVD has been on the decline for a long time, and there are not many years left.

Some stingy people can just open a premium membership for a month, then download all the movies and TV series they want to watch, and cancel the payment next month.

Whenever there is a new drama that interests you, just open it for another month and download it, as long as you don’t mind the hassle.

Finally, it is also the biggest disruptive innovation of Lionheart.com, which is to abandon the weekly broadcast format and instead release the entire episode at once.

For the American drama industry, this reform is no different from a major earthquake, a super earthquake of magnitude 12.

As we all know, American dramas have always been broadcast in a weekly format, and this has been the case for decades.

Weekly broadcasts naturally have the benefits of weekly broadcasts, but these benefits are relative to TV stations and producers.

Generally, three or four episodes are produced and staged first, and then the audience's satisfaction and recognition of the plot and characters are surveyed.

The crew will change the plot based on the survey results. Whichever character is more popular will be added to the show, and if the character is not popular, he will be given a box lunch.

If the overall response of the show is not as expected, it is very likely that the finale will be filmed directly in the first season.

Employers are most comfortable with this method and can save a lot of costs. At the same time, long-term advertising revenue is also the bulk of the TV station's revenue.

The actor is a little uncomfortable because he faces the prospect of losing his job at any time.

Of course, popular actors are very comfortable because they can stay popular for a long time, but they also face the disadvantage of not being able to take care of other jobs.

The most disgusting thing is of course the audience, especially American dramas that are mainly fast-paced and often left in suspense for the next episode.

I was just getting excited when I saw it. I took off my pants. You told me that the bottom is gone and it will take a week to grow back.

One week is enough for the audience to lose their passion for watching movies, but they are reluctant to let go of it, so they can only go back and forth in the cycle of excitement, nausea, fading, anticipation, excitement, nausea, fading, and expectation again, as the Buddhists say Infinite hell.

What's more, TV stations broadcast it at fixed times. If you miss it, you have to wait for a rebroadcast. If you miss the rebroadcast, you will be in trouble.

Everyone is so busy at work, and they can’t just sit in front of the TV anytime and anywhere.

The entire episode is released at once, so you can watch whichever episode you want, watch it anytime you want, and rewatch it whenever you want. There is no need to buy DVDs or videotapes.

Why did Netflix rise so quickly? This is an important reason.

Of course, not all programs adopt a one-time release model. Competitive variety shows such as "The Voice" adopt a one-time half-season + weekly broadcast format to maintain the suspense of the championship until the end.

While advertising on the website, MGM's own dramas and imported dramas are also edited into clips and streamed crazily on major websites and YouTube.

For the current Lionheart.com, the scale of self-produced dramas has not yet risen. Only after becoming famous can it attract a large number of creators to join.

The few movies led by Eric are obviously not enough for the audience, and the frequency of updating one or two movies a week or half a month is not enough.

So during this period, in addition to lobbying small companies such as New Line and DreamWorks, he was engaged in introduction.

MGM is sending people to contact influential dramas in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, South Korea, and China.

The focus is naturally on British dramas and Japanese anime.

Needless to say, the influence of British dramas on American dramas goes without saying. Many Hollywood practitioners have been influenced by British dramas.

Under the guidance of Michael Dobbs, MGM introduced a large number of high-quality British dramas such as "Poirot", "Sherlock", "Sherlock Holmes", "Mr. Bean" and "The French Boutique".

Although the influence of Japanese dramas is average, the influence of anime is too great, even in the United States.

Since the early 1980s, Japanese comics have begun to flourish in the United States. Japanese comics fan clubs have begun to appear in many universities, and fan associations have also appeared in society.

This period is somewhat similar to that of early China. Many domestic manufacturers did their own translations if they did not broadcast them, which was referred to as a subtitle group.

Later, a phenomenal Japanese comic triggered a viewing frenzy in the United States. It was "Akira". Since then, the development of Japanese comics in the United States has entered a golden period.

Works such as "Pokémon", "Ghost in the Shell", "Sailor Moon" and "Doraemon" have gained a large number of fans, not to mention the solid foundation laid by the super popular work "Dragon Ball".

If it weren't for the support of its high popularity, "Spirited Away" wouldn't have been so easy to win the Oscar last year.

One data can reflect the situation. Last year, Japanese comics sales accounted for 42% of the total comic sales in the United States.

According to this growth trend, it is predicted that it will reach 50% in 2007, greatly occupying the market of local manufacturers such as Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse.

But what can be done? Audiences, especially young people, like to watch it, and capital is the most profit-seeking.

Eric met with several major manufacturers during his last trip to Japan to promote "Transformers".

After nearly half a year of negotiations, we finally reached a cooperation and obtained the five-year exclusive online broadcast rights of these popular masterpieces, including some emerging potential masterpieces, such as "Bleach", "Naruto", and "One Piece".

However, what makes Eric somewhat regretful is that MGM only obtained the film and television adaptation rights and the exclusive online broadcast rights. The authorization for comic sales and peripheral production still needs to be negotiated.

At the same time, under the leadership of Shueisha, MGM obtained the live-action film production rights of "Dragon Ball" from the legendary cartoonist Akira Toriyama.

As the first shot of a live-action comic book movie, both sides have high hopes. The plot of the movie will take place until the world's best martial arts club defeats Piccolo.

Eric gave the screenwriter a fatal order to be faithful to the original work and don't let me play it randomly. After you finish writing the script, give it to me for review. If you make random changes, you won't get the best results.

Some screenwriters have a very high self-esteem and look down on games and animations, always feeling that movies are superior to others.

It's not comfortable without adaptation. It often covers the original work but actually tells its own story. The result is usually very awkward.

For example, the 2009 live-action "Dragon Ball" made countless viewers vomit after watching it, and it deserved its box office reputation.

How many fans are there of "Dragon Ball"? All over the world!

Do you still need to adapt it?

How many kilograms do you have?

The adaptation of Nala Kua is not even as good as the "New Dragon Ball" filmed by Wan Wan in 1991.

In Eric's view, although Wanwan's "New Dragon Ball" has not obtained the copyright and is illegal, it is the best among all live-action adaptations of Dragon Ball.

This time MGM must give a sincere gift to Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball fans around the world. He has several characters in mind.

For example, Samuel L. Jackson, the child hero of Ma Zhefa, is very suitable for the Big Devil Piccolo, and Arnold Vosloo, who played Immorton in The Mummy, can play Tianjin Rice.

Noriyuki Morita plays Kame Sennin, which is definitely much more effective than Chow Yun-fat. Who knows why Chow Yun-fat was chosen to play Kame Sennin? It is a speechless casting that ruins the original work.

Jay Chou can play the role of the God of Yamucha, and his looks match the role. Eric promised him a role.

At this point, the prototype of Lionheart Network has gradually been completed, bringing together outstanding film, television, dramas and animations from all over the world.

Coupled with the film libraries of MGM, New Line, DreamWorks, Lionsgate and other companies, coupled with the works accumulated by Marvel over the years, plus ace self-produced dramas.

If you open Lionheart.com and search for the total number of videos, you will find that it reaches an exaggerated 20,000+.

The depth may not be enough, but the thickness must be enough for movie fans with various tastes to find their favorites.

Eric is ready for a fight with the Big Six and the TV stations!

As Lionheart launched crazy advertising, its social influence and popularity quickly increased, and there were endless discussions about this new website and new model.

Eric has also been interviewed by YouTube and Yahoo.

"Yes, I think that with the development of the Internet, people's attention will increasingly shift away from televisions and focus on more portable mobile devices in the future."

"Just like mobile phones, mobile phones are developing very fast. There have been countless versions in just a few years. I think in the near future, with the development of smart phones, watching movies on mobile phones will become a major trend."

"And that's when people, especially young people, are ditching their televisions and what I call cord-cutters, no longer paying for cable TV."

"Their interests will shift more to the Internet. They can watch whatever they want while walking, chatting, or drinking coffee. This is what Lionheart wants to do."

Although the problem was communicated in advance, the host still looked at him in surprise. This statement was almost the same as the statement a few days ago, which was equivalent to declaring war on the major TV stations.

The host looked serious: "Mr. Cooper, what do you think is the difference between a weekly TV series and a one-time broadcast?"

Eric put the pros and cons of the two forms on the table, and finally added: "binge-watching, I call this new word binge-watching. What Lionheart wants to do is to lead the trend and lead the way." The trend of watching dramas.”

"Let the audience watch what they want and for as long as they want."

"We also welcome screenwriters, directors, and actors to come to us if they have any good projects."

“Everything is for the audience, that’s our dream.”