The Best Entertainment Era

When he came to Burbank, Reed Hastings went straight to Embassy Pictures. Because of the good relationship he had made before, he easily met Garcia Rodriguez, the CEO of Embassy Pictures.

This also counts as reciprocal reception.

Welcome to Embassy Pictures. Garcia-Rodriguez said politely.

Reed Hastings responded with a smile. After shaking hands with Garcia, he quickly looked at the reception room, and was instantly attracted by the framed posters hanging on the wall.

The Blair Witch, The Purge, Death Comes, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Fatal Turn, Bourne Shadow...

These are all popular movies that have become famous in North America.

It seems that Netflix does not have the Internet rental and sales rights for DVDs of these films.

Reed-Hastings sighed in his heart. Without the copyright of new popular movies, it is too difficult to attract users on a large scale by relying only on some old movies and niche movies.

Currently, the largest audience group on the Internet is a relatively young group of young people. These people keep up with the trend and focus on movie entertainment. Most people are most interested in new popular movies.

It's not that no one likes old movies, it's just that the audience is much smaller.

Netflix has reached a critical stage. If the current situation cannot be changed, the only option is to find someone to sell it.

Bourne Bourne is the hottest movie on the rental market right now, and he didn't hesitate to do it himself.

Netflix also contacted Embassy Pictures before, asking for the online copyright of some films released by Embassy Pictures, but for some reason, they were all rejected.

Reed-Hastings had many thoughts flashing through his head, with the same expression on his face, he said with a smile: Mr. Rodriguez, I wonder if you have heard of Netflix?

Of course Garcia has heard of Netflix. During the Relativity Entertainment conference these days, he read a lot of information about Netflix and said, Actually, I have rented some old movies on the Netflix website.

Internet rental is the main business of Netflix. Reed-Hastings said directly: I am here this time to discuss with your company the network licensing of Bourne Shadow.

He looked around the reception room: Of course, if possible,

Licenses for these films could also be included.

Garcia nodded: Internet DVD rental seems to be a new peripheral channel.

Reed-Hastings took the opportunity to say: In this aspect of business, Netflix is ​​the number one company in the United States. If you cooperate with Netflix, you can open up a brand new peripheral sales channel.

America's No. 1 company? Garcia knew very well that it was because there were no competitors for the time being.

Information asymmetry causes the two parties to have different perceptions of each other.

Reed-Hastings asked at this time: Netflix does not need exclusive copyright, it only needs to obtain your authorization.

Garcia didn't answer, and seemed to be thinking.

Reed-Hastings frowned. Don't tell me you don't have the Internet rights to Bourne, and other films?

No. Garcia smiled: The distribution rights of these films are still there.

Reed-Hastings breathed a sigh of relief: The specific authorized price...

Ever since he planned to find the embassy film industry in person, he was ready to pay a high licensing fee.

Only by attracting more registered users can it be recognized by investment institutions. Even if there is no investment from investment institutions, the increase in the number of users can also allow Netflix to sell at a better price.

As a businessman, Reed Hastings considered the pros and cons before coming here.

Garcia said: Authorization is not an issue.

This is the first time that Reed-Hastings has seen such a happy film company. The companies he talked about before not only have serious doubts about their model, but also offer sky-high prices that are unbearable, such as If you can charge half of the rental fee for renting a disc, will Netflix still have room to make a profit?

But before he could ask, Garcia next to him said, Mr. Hastings, I think our two companies can have more in-depth cooperation.

More in-depth cooperation? This surprised Reed Hastings. In the past year or so, he has suffered various blows. Whether it is a copyright company or an investment company, the attitude towards Netflix is ​​very bad, as if Netflix has gone bankrupt.

If it wasn't for him to have some contacts and some resources in his hands, Netflix would have been unable to support it long ago.

Now there are Hollywood companies who take the initiative to cooperate with Netflix? Reed Hastings has a sense of unreality.

However, Reed-Hastings is more aware that every opportunity is very rare for Netflix.

Cooperation? Reed Hastings asked calmly, his face unchanged, Does your company want to cooperate with Netflix?

Garcia seemed very sincere: My personal thoughts.

Reed-Hastings deliberately put on a look of surprise: Why? It seems that this is the first time I am dealing with your company?

Garcia said: I am no stranger to Netflix. He simply explained: Actually, I became a Netflix user as early as a few months ago. This kind of choice can be made without leaving home. It is indeed very convenient that movie discs can be delivered overnight, and I don’t need to go to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video chain stores and wait in line for long and cumbersome rental procedures.”

Hearing the other party's praise of Netflix's model, Reed-Hastings remained expressionless, but he felt a little joy after being recognized in his heart.

Thinking of the cold eyes he suffered at Blockbuster, this Garcia Rodriguez is obviously more discerning.

Reed Hastings said lightly: But most people don't see that this is the future.

Garcia smiled: Accurate eyes always belong to a few people.

Like that guy named Ronan Anderson.

In the meetings of the past few days, it is not that Garcia did not express objections to the acquisition of Netflix, a website with serious losses and an unproven business model, but Mary, George Clint, Robert Lee and others who participated in the meeting all agreed. , as if Ronan's decision would definitely succeed.

Thinking about it carefully, from The Blair Witch, to winning the overseas channel of Polygram Pictures, to The Bourne, which has been sold online and offline recently, every decision of Ronan has really achieved success. success.

Perhaps, Ronan really saw something on this company or website that he couldn't see at all.

Garcia is very relaxed. He has a good ability in business, but when it comes to large-scale decision-making, his vision is mediocre.

Reed-Hastings asked: How do you want to cooperate?

Garcia let go of this little thought and said: Netflix's model may be the future of the movie rental industry, and it may also be one of the future of the movie industry's peripheral sales channels. I personally think it has great investment value.

Reed-Hastings looked unimpressed and asked, Venture money?

Garcia did not answer directly, but instead said: If you are interested in cooperation, we can find a special time to talk in detail. He said with a smile: This is just a preliminary idea, and the embassy film industry and I need time to discuss. Get to know your company.

Reed Hastings is not surprised by Garcia's caution, after all, this is not something that can be decided casually.

Garcia further said: I just said that this is my personal thought at the moment, and it is also what I thought after seeing Mr. Hastings. It will take a while to become a company decision.

Reed Hastings did not speak, considering the feasibility of this matter.

Garcia continued: If Mr. Hastings is interested in cooperating, I will push the company to conduct an early inspection of Netflix.

Reed Hastings remained calm: I need to think about it, and I need to know more about your company.

Garcia said: Yes, no problem. He seemed generous: If you need my cooperation, just contact me.

Reed Hastings asked the key question again: How do you want to work with Netflix?

Garcia said lightly: The cooperation method can only be decided after the embassy film industry has a better understanding of your company, so that we can be responsible for both of us.

This sudden unexpected situation also changed the purpose of Reed Hastings' trip. The negotiations on the authorization of the film copyright had to be interrupted. Garcia was obviously only interested in the so-called cooperation.

Reed-Hastings did not agree, nor did he veto it. For him and Netflix, this is an opportunity anyway.

Anyway, I made the worst plan before, and sold Netflix if it didn't work.

As long as the price is right, there is no difference between selling to Blockbuster and embassy pictures.

The only difference is probably that Blockbuster is not interested in Netflix at all.

On the day Reed Hastings left the embassy film industry, he mobilized his network to inquire about various information and materials about the embassy film industry. What he learned surprised him. It is a small distribution company with 10,000 US dollars, but after being acquired by Relativity Entertainment Group, it has achieved amazing results in just two years.

It is said that the revenue from the release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon alone exceeded 100 million US dollars.

Later, films such as House of the Dead, Shrek, The Bourne Shadow and Fatal Turns were released, and the lowest revenue of House of the Dead was tens of millions of dollars.

There is no doubt that this distribution company has strong cash flow and is fully capable of investing in Netflix.

Moreover, Embassy Pictures does have the possibility of cooperating with Netflix. For a film distribution company, it is necessary to have an independent Internet distribution channel in the future.

Reed-Hastings also noticed the Relativity Entertainment Group behind Embassy Pictures, a two-year-old company that makes and distributes films as its main business.

The owner of the company is Ronan Anderson, a name that sounds familiar.

But Reed-Hastings can't recall hearing it anywhere.

A week later, Reed-Hastings got a call from Garcia, the owner of Relativity Entertainment Group, who wanted to interview him.

./book_

.. m.