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Zhou Buqi came to HBO this time to discuss cooperation on the entire series of American dramas "The Lord of the Rings".

But is cooperation really necessary?

Ziweixing Global is not short of money at all.

Even if you are short of money, you can’t cooperate with HBO!

The financing of film and television projects is also different for different financing institutions. Financing institutions outside the industry do not understand the operating methods of the entertainment industry, so it is useless to ask for "power". They only need "profit", that is, they only need to pay dividends after making money. But if it is a cooperative investment within the industry, it must not only be beneficial, but also powerful.

The big series of American TV series "Lord of the Rings" can be called the world's largest film and television IP. Not to mention "A Song of Ice and Fire", which is very plagiarized, even the IPs of Marvel and Disney Princess cannot compare.

MSI Global has to invest huge sums of money to produce this series, how can it possibly distribute the rights and interests?

In order to produce the "Hobbit" series of movies, Warner is even willing to share 50% of its net profits with MGM, producers, middlemen, directors, actors, the Tolkien Foundation, labor unions, and many other parties. .

A profit of 50% is enough to drive Warner crazy, which shows how strong the earning power of this series is and how high the market recognition is.

It is almost impossible to fail in an investment.

Why would Zhou Buqi bring this super trump card to HBO to cooperate and then give up part of his rights to the other party? He came to HBO's headquarters this time not to ask for money to co-produce the "Lord of the Rings" series of American dramas. On the contrary, he came to HBO to send money to co-produce "Game of Thrones"!

And his actions are not sudden, they are all foreshadowed and have a causal relationship, making it easier for people to trust him.

Before streaming media took off and American TV series took the world by storm, movies and TV series were simply not on the same level from a money-making perspective.

A Hollywood blockbuster with an investment of US$100 million can easily earn US$200-300 million if it is properly run. TV series of the same level cannot have such a return rate.

Ziweixing Universal rejected Warner's proposal to make the "Hobbit" novel into a movie, but wanted to integrate the entire series of novels "The Silmarillion", "The Children of Hurin", "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" Together, they were filmed into a feature-length TV series. When the news came out, it shocked the entire Hollywood.

It also shocked the whole world.

In the century-old history of Hollywood, this has never been done before!

How much money can I make from a TV series?

The industry simply cannot understand that Ziweixing Universal does not make movies but TV series. How can we explain this?

Probably the only answer lies in Boss Zhou's feelings, pursuit and idealism.

Such a fantasy story with a huge story background is really difficult to carry in the size of a movie. It is indeed more suitable to make a TV series than a movie. The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was very well shot, but it was still widely criticized for being too short and too short. Not only did it fail to show the fantasy and mystery of Middle-earth, it also failed to integrate the philosophy of the novel. The connotation is revealed.

TV series have such advantages.

Now, it makes sense that Boss Zhou is very interested in the American TV series "Rome" and is interested in "Game of Thrones". Not to mention HBO's outsiders, even its own people believed it and thought that Boss Zhou's sentimentalism was rampant and they were going to be deceived.

Zhou Buqi followed the people from HBO to the reading room. There was a row of sofas arranged in a semi-arc shape in front of it, and there were many chairs on both sides.

The important person must be sitting in the middle of the couch.

Different from movie viewing, there is no projector here, only a 70-inch TV hanging on the wall, and the staff put a DVD in the DVD player.

Then, the first episode of Game of Thrones season 1 started playing.

This is a sample.

Prototypes are meant to attract audiences and investors, so the first episode was very well produced. The opening scene included several sets of special effects shots to express the theme of "fantasy + epic".

As the plot develops, HBO's pornographic style is also reflected. In order to attract attention, even the killing of children is filmed on a large scale.

The budget for the entire first season is $60 million, and this first episode is estimated to cost $8 million.

After the broadcast ended, the reading room fell silent.

Holding a glass of champagne in his hand, Zhou Buqi was the first to say, "I like it!"

"call!"

Richard, the president of HBO, breathed a sigh of relief and had a bright smile on his face.

The other staff members looked even more delighted.

It feels like it’s going to happen!

Bright was very anxious and said quickly: "Zhou, how about we send a team to the UK to inspect this production team. This is a sample film..."

Samples are very deceptive.

Just like in many Japanese small movies, actresses are often killed on posters, and they are all created by the production company to defraud money.

"No need!" Zhou Buqi interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "I like "Roma" very much, but in my opinion, this drama will be more magnificent and exciting than "Roma", with its fantastic background and mysterious northern territory. , which is more attractive than pure historical themes."

Richard smiled and said: "Mr. Zhou, you are indeed an expert. You can see the superiority of this drama at a glance. Yes, the fantasy attribute is the reason why we canceled "Roma" and chose to produce this drama . As for Brett's worries, I think there is no need. "A Song of Ice and Fire" is a novel with ups and downs. The first episode is very exciting, and the follow-up will become more and more exciting!"

Zhou Buqi nodded, remained silent for a while, and asked, "How big is the funding gap?"

Richard said: "The budget was $100 million, and now it's only $60 million."

The first season of Game of Thrones was really short of money.

No one can guarantee the success of this drama. Coupled with the impact of the economic crisis, production funds can only be cut to reduce investment risks. This made shooting extremely difficult.

For example, in the scene where rocks are thrown at people, if the funds are sufficient, just use special effects to create the rocks. How much does it cost to make special effects shots? There is no other way but to really smash it.

The risk of real smashing is even greater. Once it is damaged, there will be a lot of trouble, and you may even be sued by the union. Neither HBO nor the production team wants to do this.

But there is no other way. If you don’t have money, you can only force it. Just like the Hong Kong movies in the early years, they were all shot at the risk of death, and people died at every turn.

If someone is willing to invest at this time, of course everyone will be happy.

Zhou Buqi did not hesitate at all and said calmly: "When I do business, what I care about most is efficiency. If it works, it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't work. In a word, I am optimistic about this project."

Richard was so excited that he almost jumped up. He toasted him with a glass of wine and said repeatedly: "That's right, that's right. Mr. Zhou is a big shot. He usually deals with too many big things. This time I can take the time to come to HBO." , it’s an honor for all of us.”

Zhou Buqi waved his hand and asked him: "The funding gap is US$40 million?"

"right."

"How about the cooperative mode?"

"this……"

Richard was also a little confused.

This progress was too fast, and he was a little at a loss. How could a specific cooperation plan be decided casually by just a few people while drinking?

But here comes the problem again. Boss Zhou is so busy. If he can't solve this matter as soon as possible, he turns around to do other things and leaves this matter to professionals like Brett to handle it. It's very detrimental to HBO's financing.

For HBO, it's best to take advantage of this hammer to get this matter settled as soon as possible!

Sign the contract!

Richard could only think about it and said slowly: "According to HBO's past model, we generally have a decentralized system."

When Zhen Yu heard this, she almost laughed.

She has been collecting information about HBO during this period, just to prepare for Boss Zhou's visit to HBO headquarters. Now it's good, I really got it tricked step by step.

Zhou Buqi had already mastered the relevant information, but he asked calmly: "What is decentralization?"

Richard explained: "Our main profit sectors are mainly three. First, the broadcasting of local TV stations. Second, the distribution of overseas TV rights. Third, the sales of DVDs. If it is a joint investment, it is to combine these three Part of the copyright will be distributed. However, the local television broadcast rights can only belong to HBO, and this is not negotiable."

Zhou Buqi turned to look at him, "Is it gone?"

"Our TV series are generally restricted, so the sales channels are relatively small, and the surrounding market and derivatives market have a small audience. It is difficult to spread them on a large scale like Hollywood movies."

Richard is clearly a traditional, old-school TV guy who hasn't kept up with the internet age.

Zhou Buqi asked: "Then how will we distribute the copyright?"

Richard said: "The local TV broadcast rights belong to HBO. Overseas distribution rights and DVD sales rights can be allocated appropriately. We can emulate our original cooperation with DreamWorks."

"DreamWorks?" Zhou Buqi quickly responded, "You mean "Band of Brothers"?"

Richard said: "Yes, it's "Band of Brothers." The total production cost of this TV series was US$120 million, with DreamWorks investing US$70 million, HBO investing US$40 million, and BBC investing US$10 million. The final distribution of power , the television rights in the United States belong to HBO, and the television rights in the United Kingdom belong to the BBC. All remaining rights belong to DreamWorks."

Zhou Buqi seemed quite satisfied, "Then let's make another one according to the contract template of "Band of Brothers"."

"Mr. Zhou, let me give you an example. This is different!" Richard was startled and quickly explained, "'Band of Brothers' is a project initiated and controlled by DreamWorks. They have the initiative. Moreover, that is The TV series produced by Spielberg and Hanks has been very influential."

Zhou Buqi was very dissatisfied and frowned, "Then what do you mean? Rick, I have the sincerity of cooperation and the passion to invest in high-quality film and television works. However, I also hope that you can show the sincerity of cooperation!" "

Richard was a little nervous, "Don't worry, we are very sincere about this cooperation. Except that the US TV copyright belongs exclusively to HBO, HBO can share other rights and interests with Ziweixing Global. The specifics are The sharing ratio, this...Mr. Zhou, if you give me two days, we will definitely give you a satisfactory plan."

Zhou Buqi shook his head, "I will leave New York tomorrow afternoon."

"It doesn't matter……"

"Forget it, it's not that troublesome. I only have two conditions, cooperate if you agree, and forget it if you don't agree. First, I want the streaming rights to the TV series "Game of Thrones". Second, I don't want "Game of Thrones" to be a TV series. "Roma" will happen again in the future. If one day you can't continue filming, you have to transfer the rights to continue filming this project to me, and I will continue filming."

Finally, Tu Qiong saw it.