America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 78 The problems of the times can only be left to the times (please subscribe and reward)

As if she was very determined, Ashley Olsen asked: "Do you have a script? Can you let us see it first? Don't worry, I promise that the secret will not be leaked."

Eric sneered in his heart, thinking, am I afraid that you will leak the secret? I'm worried that you two can't tell the difference between good and bad.

However, Chen Xing was still called in: "Inform Judy and ask her to bring the script of "Adele's Life" and find another makeup artist."

"Okay, boss!"

As for the script, Eric took time to write it while filming Transformers. Since it is a literary film, lines are the top priority.

The film was adapted from the comic "Blue is a Warm Color" by French writer Julie Marlowe, but it had not yet come out in 2003.

Without the background of the original work, he was really worried about writing an outline and giving it to the screenwriter to fill in, because different people's understanding abilities vary greatly, especially for literary films, which are just outlines.

Not trusting to leave it to others, Eric could only rack his brains to recall the plot. Fortunately, this movie was the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film that year and the winner of the Palme d'Or. Their small circle had studied it carefully and watched it many times. .

So I can recall those classic scenes and lines. As for the details, it’s not a big problem to find a screenwriter to fill them in.

After a while, Judy walked into the office with the script. The Olsen sisters had their backs to her, so she didn't recognize them just by looking at their backs.

"My boss, I have come back to this script three times. Each time I only added or deleted some dialogues. I knew it was not the time to find a screenwriter. You would definitely have a fourth time. Facts have proved that my judgment was correct. of."

As she spoke, she put the script on the table and turned around to see the Olsen sisters. She felt that the twins in front of her looked familiar.

"Oh, you guys, let me think about it, I can definitely remember it."

The Olsen sisters smiled and looked at the woman in front of them, who seemed to be a few years older than them, but they had encountered this situation many times.

Trying to remember, and patting her head, Judy said with some doubt: "It's the Olson sisters, you are the Olson sisters, yes, it's you."

"Sorry, I can't tell you apart. You are Mary Olson and you are Ashley, right?"

The two sisters pointed at each other: "It seems like you made a mistake."

"Oh, sorry, sorry. This is how I differentiate between you in my heart. Mary's chin needs to be a little bit pointier. Look at my eyes. It seems like she should see a doctor."

Judy said as she looked back and forth on the Olsen sisters, feeling something sensitive in her heart shaking. She felt this way when she saw beautiful women.

Although her relationship with Barle Farley has made breakthrough progress, this does not prevent her from liking other beauties.

No, this should be called appreciation.

After looking at it for a moment, she turned to look at Eric again, a flash of light flashed in her mind, and she suddenly screamed.

"OMG! You're not going to be in this show, are you? Eric, Ashley and Mary are going to be in 'Adele's Life,' are you?"

Eric understood the excitement of being a lesbian, but it was really embarrassing to be so surprised. He waved his hand: "Judy, you have said enough, you can go out now."

Judy took a few steps back and stood in the corner, and apologized in a low voice like a minion: "I'm just standing here. I won't disturb you. Please don't kick me out. I like this scene."

Mary Olsen looked at her helplessly: "We just want to see the script, and we haven't decided to star."

"Okay, you can take a look at the script first. Although it's not perfect yet, the general plot is like this. I drew those sub-shots, so it's easy to understand."

The two sisters thanked them and looked through it carefully. According to Eric, this drama could help them win the highest award in the film and television industry, so the Olsen sisters read it very carefully.

Feeling it would take a while, Eric walked straight out of the office.

When Chen Xing saw his boss coming out, Chen Xing followed him directly. As a secretary, he should always stay close to his boss.

Looking at the Chinese young man in front of him who was several years older than himself, Eric shook his head slightly in his heart.

Although Chen Xing is very diligent and has a good understanding, the time he has been with him is too short. He has only done some basic work in the past. It is still early for him to become a man on his own, at least two years later.

"You just watch here and call me after the Olsen sisters read the script."

"Okay, boss."

Eric went directly to the upper floor and arrived outside his father's office a moment later.

Dad’s secretary is a woman, nearly forty years old named Susan. She has rich work experience. She used to work in the finance department and was later transferred to be a secretary.

As far as Eric knew, Susan had been with her father for more than five years.

Generally speaking, it is impossible for a person to work as a secretary for five years. Three years is a long time. Either he will be transferred to a more important position, or he will quit because he is not capable enough, or he will be assigned to a idle position,

It was rare for someone like Susan to have been with her for five years, and Eric doubted whether his father had any inappropriate relationship with her.

After all, although this girl is almost forty years old, she is still pretty and smooth, with turbulent breasts and endless eyes all day long.

Many people like glasses, which add a touch of intellectual beauty to themselves and are said to increase attack speed.

Seeing Eric arriving, Susan hurriedly opened the door, where her father was reading a document.

He looked up and saw his son coming, signed his name on the document and handed it to Susan: "Let Xiulun revise this agreement again."

Susan closed the door and left, and Charlie Cooper asked: "Eric, what's the matter?"

He found a seat and sat down: "Dad, do you still remember what I told you about the Huaxia Branch?"

Dad nodded: "Remember, what do you want to do?"

"In the past few days, a Xinghui company from Xiangjiang came to us to solicit investment. It's the document I showed you yesterday.

"Well, that Stephen Zhou, right? The investment is 22 million US dollars. Since you are optimistic about him, I can rest assured."

"Yes, I entrusted him to make connections in mainland China. Stephen has connections with senior executives of China Film Group. I think this is a good opportunity."

"China Film Group? It's the company that controls the introduction of movies. I've heard of it, but I've never dealt with it. China's market share is too low, and it's far from developed."

"Yes, if I only think about the box office, there won't be much money in Mainland China, but I want to expand other businesses there."

"What?"

"Get land to build a factory, build your own factory, and develop DVD business and peripheral businesses."

At this point, Dad instantly understood: "You want to sell Transformers peripherals over there?"

"Not only Transformers, but also the peripheral products that have been produced in various subsequent movies."

Hearing this, Dad hesitated: "I know what you are thinking, including what you said about Double Star Entertainment not long ago, but piracy is too serious in China, so this may not be a good choice."

"No matter how serious it is, it can't be as serious as the United States, right? We are the number one piracy country in the world." Eric laughed.

Regarding the issue of piracy, it has always been the enemy of the film and television industry.

To be precise, not only those involved in movies and TV shows, but also songs, games, books, toys, everything can be pirated.

For film and television companies, the ones they hate most are undoubtedly pirated disc manufacturers.

Genuine discs sell for more than ten dollars each, while pirated discs only cost five dollars each. For most people, which one to choose is a clear question.

Even though the definition of pirated discs may not be high, and even the plot may not be perfect, and some plots may be cut off at the beginning or in the middle, cheapness is the magic weapon to win.

Before time travel, when Eric was young, pirated discs were too common at roadside stalls or street video stores.

You can buy them at a more expensive price of 5 yuan in big cities, and 2 yuan a piece is the standard price in small counties.

Often a movie can be circulated on the market in no more than two days as soon as it is released.

This problem exists not only in China, but also all over the world. The piracy problem in the United States is also very serious.

Even if the law imposes strict penalties on pirates, huge profits still cannot be prevented, and the market is endless. Once they are officially eliminated, they will go underground.

What can really eliminate pirated discs is the development of the Internet. The rise of video websites has gradually turned discs into historical dust.

Since then, although the discs are still in circulation, most of them are commemorative editions launched by major manufacturers. When you buy them home, they are usually used for collection.

Major Hollywood companies have a huge headache on how to crack down on pirates.

"Dad, I have never understood. Since the harm of piracy is so serious, why doesn't Hollywood unite to resist piracy?"

Hearing this question, Charlie Cooper said helplessly: "Of course we have thought about it. Everyone is looking for effective methods, but with little success."

"I once had the idea of ​​uniting all the companies in Hollywood to jointly support a large factory to license genuine copies at low prices and drive those pirates out of the market at a lower price than pirated copies."

Eric nodded: "This is a great proposal. I have had this idea before, but what next?"

"Then? Then of course it is impossible to achieve, the resistance is too great. First of all, major companies need to maintain one voice, but this step is already difficult to achieve."

"Why?"

"Because of profit, although everyone has been affected by piracy, the degree of loss suffered is not the same. For companies with smaller losses, the price paid is greater than piracy."

"Then there are internal issues. Do you really think that all pirates are enemies? Of course not. Behind many pirates are actually senior executives of major companies."

“Remember Gosling Ferrer?”

"The former head of marketing at MGM?"

"Yes, that's him. As far as I know, he is running a pirate factory behind the scenes, which damages MGM's interests, but the money actually goes into his own pocket."

"These worms let them go so easily. They really took advantage of them and even gave them compensation!" Eric scolded.

Dad sighed: "This is just my guess, but there is no concrete evidence, but this phenomenon exists in many companies."

"What I just mentioned are internal reasons for the company, and then there are external reasons, that is, if we spend a lot of money to drive those pirates out of the market, what will happen next? What do you want to do? Will you still sell at low prices?"

"Of course not. At least the original price must be restored. Otherwise, why do these things?"

Dad smiled: "Then the problem arises again. When we restore the price, the market will return to the past. Many low-income people cannot afford genuine products."

"Someone has to meet the needs of this group of people, so it won't be long before pirates reappear, and everything will return to zero."

"In this process, we have to spend a lot of time and money, but the result is likely to be just to keep everything as it is. People who have the ability to consume genuine products will still buy genuine ones, and people who cannot afford it will still find ways to buy pirated copies. So let's do this What is it for?"

"So the unified understanding of all major companies is to make the genuine version better and more refined in order to stabilize our core customers. Those users who do not belong to us, no matter how hard you work, they still do not belong to you."

Dad's words opened Eric's eyes. If you think about it carefully, it is indeed true. The genuine and pirated versions are inherently different for the people they target. They are not yours, and they will not be yours no matter how hard you try.

"Dad, how about we also make pirated copies? I'm talking about the same quality as those pirated discs, and the plot is missing even if you cut it off."

Dad sighed: "I have also thought about this method, but first of all, piracy is illegal, you have to be clear about this."

"Of course it is not illegal to pirate your own company's works, but if you only target your own company and face Hollywood's hundreds of years of depth in its film library, you will have no market competitiveness at all."

"So you need to unite major companies, and then the problem is back to the original point. Everyone suffers different losses, and there is no way to achieve unity. This is a dead end."

"So piracy is just piracy. This is a product produced by the laws of the market. No one can stop it. All we can do is try our best to crack down on it and minimize some losses."

Eric was also desperate after being analyzed by his father.

Perhaps as he said, the problems of the times can only be left to the times, and the problems of development can only be left to development.

When the times enter a new era, there is no need to crack down at all, and the piracy problem will disappear on its own.

"By the way, how was the filming of Transformers?"

"Everything goes well. We are currently filming the campus part in Santa Rosa. Patty Jenkins is here. It will be fine."

bell

At this time, the phone rang, it was Chen Xing.

"Boss, the Olsen sisters have read the script."

"I know, let them wait for a while, I will go back soon."

After hanging up the phone, Eric got to the core issue.

"Dad, China's business will start sooner or later. After all, Disney, Paramount, New Line, Universal, etc. all have offices or branches. We can't fall behind."

"But the person in charge of the branch still needs you to make up your mind."

"This is indeed a difficult question. Who do you think is more suitable? For most people, they don't think this is a good job."

"I don't know either. Although Billy likes to fly around, he is too young and cannot afford a company yet. I need your support."

After hesitating for a while, Dad looked out the door through the glass: "How is Susan?"

"Can she?" Eric frowned.

"You can rest assured in terms of ability. Do you know why I keep her by my side?"

"It's not because it's too bad, but because it's so useful. Susan is the most capable of all my secretaries, and I can't bear to let her go."

"Really? She is so powerful! Is it because she is strong in business or in other aspects?"

"You brat! Get out of here!"