Top of the big era

HBO is a professional cable TV station. Compared with free TV stations such as NBC, CBS, and ABC, it is not only "cable", but also has a special box.

Every time the audience wants to watch HBO, they have to open this box with layers of protection to prevent minors from seeing it.

In addition to having a large amount of adult-level content, which is very pornographic and violent, there is another characteristic of this TV station. There is only high-quality content on this TV station. Not to mention no advertisements, there is very little low-quality content.

This results in high subscription prices for TV stations.

HBO can collect billions of dollars in TV station subscription fees from viewers every year, and it has deep pockets, which gives them the ability to produce high-quality dramas.

HBO 20 years ago was a TV station that played old movies. Later, a talented person named Jeffrey Becks appeared at HBO. He led HBO to embark on a strategic transformation and embarked on the route of self-made high-quality dramas. This immediately made HBO contrast with other TV stations and quickly stood out.

Before HBO, the TV drama market had strong localization characteristics.

Because of the large number of high-quality dramas produced by HBO, American dramas can go beyond the United States. What really made American dramas popular all over the world, and what made American dramas sweep the world and create a sensation like Hollywood movies, was mainly due to an epic masterpiece-"Game of Thrones".

This drama can be said to have completely subverted all previous perceptions of TV dramas.

Because it is so subversive, no one can guarantee the success of this show.

Why is it that HBO is unwilling to invest more in a film that is so good? There is no third-party platform willing to invest?

The reasons Richard mentioned were all correct, but he didn't say the real reason. You have to do your due diligence, as Brett said.

The most critical step is to chat with the production team and read the script.

Depend on!

It can scare someone to death!

There has never been a TV series filmed like this. It is so subversive. In the first season alone, the beautiful heroine was bought and humiliated by savages like an object, and the heroic hero was beheaded at the end.

Who dares to invest in this kind of plot that seriously challenges the audience's emotional and cognitive bottom line?

Not to mention outsiders, even HBO was trembling with fear and cut its production budget from US$100 million to US$60 million. Even if I want to change the plot, I still can't. First of all, the novel "A Song of Ice and Fire" has not been finished yet. The changes are too big and the subsequent plot will not be able to connect with the novel. Secondly, American dramas are screenwriter-responsible, with the screenwriter leading the plot, and the biggest screenwriter is the author himself.

The main reason Zhou Buqi wanted to create such a scene of pretending to be stupid was to cut through the mess quickly and avoid the due diligence process as much as possible.

If the professionals at Ziweixing Global discovered the absurdity and sensationalism of the plot of this TV series, they would surely jump out to collectively oppose it, and many unnecessary changes would occur.

At the same time, we cannot give HBO people too much time to respond, and we cannot allow them to consult too many professionals to discuss the future development trends of streaming media.

Currently, there are three main monetization models for HBO TV series: broadcasting on HBO, distributing TV copyrights in overseas markets, and releasing DVDs.

Does not include streaming.

The main reason is that the current streaming media companies on the market are too weak, and it is difficult for industry giants like HBO to take notice.

This is the opportunity for Ziweixing Global.

Zhou Buqi gave them one night to study and will give a final answer tomorrow morning. If a cooperation plan is not reached before he leaves New York tomorrow afternoon, then the cooperation will be cancelled.

The attitude is relatively strong.

As for the cooperation in the "Lord of the Rings" TV series, this is unnecessary. Zhou Buqi just said one sentence and scared everyone at HBO away——

"For the "Lord of the Rings" series, we will negotiate with the Tolkien family for the rights to "The Silmarillion" and "The Children of Hurin". If we buy it, we will shoot 6-7 seasons. If we don't, we will Shoot for 5-6 seasons. The production cost for a single season cannot be less than 200 million US dollars. We must not skimp on special effects, we must express the beauty of Middle-earth!"

The people at HBO are just glaring.

I don’t know whether this is emotion or ignorance.

With 200 million U.S. dollars, if it were a general American TV series, 10 could be produced. You are so rich, you can really waste it!

…

"Dong dong dong."

Senior sister Zhen Yu knocked on the door of the study room, opened it, and found Zhou Buqi sitting on the sofa, holding Sun Wanran and Ning Lu in his arms, kissing them on the left and right, having a great time.

"Feel sorry."

Zhen Yu felt that she was disturbing them, so she wanted to close the door and exit.

Zhou Buqi stopped her, "Senior Sister Zhen, have everything been arranged?"

Ning Lu was more restrained, quickly adjusted the collar of her skirt, and hung the slipped sling on her shoulders. Her face was flushed, her eyes were watery, and she pursed her lips, "Mr. Zhen, come and sit."

Then he gave up his seat, stood up and sat next to Sun Wanran.

She is a personal secretary and there is no need to avoid things at work.

Zhen Yu came to sit next to Zhou Buqi and said with a chuckle: "I have already made arrangements. Ziweixing Global has rented a private jet and will fly over overnight. As long as HBO accepts your plan tomorrow morning, we can negotiate Signed the contract.”

Zhou Buqi was very confident, "They will agree."

Zhen Yu had many questions in her mind. Although she believed in him, she was still very suspicious, "Boss Zhou, how did you...make your judgment? How dare you take such a big risk on just one sample?"

Zhou Buqi didn't want to explain much, so he said vaguely: "The novel is very well written, and... this is a big production by HBO, and the quality is guaranteed. Even if "Game of Thrones" is not filmed well, it will be. If it reaches the level of "Roma", it would also be a huge success for us. What we want is the streaming rights."

Zhen Yu nodded lightly, "HBO cut off "Roma" mainly for two reasons. One is that HBO's audience is not very interested in European history. The second point is that the scale of this drama is too big. Big There are very few powerful TV stations around the world that can broadcast it, resulting in the distribution of overseas rights not meeting expectations."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "That's right, "Game of Thrones" is an imaginary fantasy background and is not exclusive to Europe. As for the TV copyright for distribution, this is not a problem, we don't need it. Moreover, the Internet is global Yes, a global streaming media copyright will cover everything."

After a pause, he continued: "Even if "Game of Thrones" fails, it will be a failure on the HBO model. For the streaming media industry we want to build, there is almost no basis for failure. Even "Rome", If it were put on Netflix, it could also become a hit."

Zhen Yu felt that he was touching her waist and hips, but she didn't want to mess around with two little secretaries, so she wanted to leave, "Okay, I'll report to you. You guys can go about your business, I won't disturb you." ."

"Sister Zhen Yu, I will go to your room tonight."

"Um."

"Call Wu Yu? She will return to China tomorrow."

Zhen Yu was a little embarrassed, "I'm not very familiar with her..."

Zhou Buqi didn't give her a reason, and said without any doubt: "The more contact you have, the more you'll get familiar with it. That's it, you go make arrangements!"

There is no need to elaborate on a one-night fling.

Early the next morning, while Zhou Buqi was still sleeping soundly in the fragrant, soft and tender home, the little secretary Sun Wanran slipped into the room and pushed his shoulder.

Zhou Buqi opened his eyes in confusion, "What's going on?"

"There is news from HBO, saying that they are willing to start negotiations based on your plan yesterday!"

"So fast?"

Zhou Buqi checked the time, it was only 7:30 in the morning.

He quickly pulled back the quilt, not caring whether Senior Sister Zhen Yu and Senior Sister Wu Yu would show up in front of Sun Wanran, so he planned to wash up quickly and pack things to prepare for negotiations.

Looking at this situation, the people at HBO probably didn't sleep all night.

An hour later, Zhou Buqi, accompanied by Zhen Yu, Sun Wanran, Ning Lu, and some professionals from Ziweixing Global, a total of more than 20 people, arrived at HBO's headquarters.

Negotiations begin.

Zhou Buqi made two requests yesterday. The first is to obtain the streaming rights for the entire series of "Game of Thrones"; the second is that if HBO can't continue filming, or the production funds are insufficient and want to end it hastily, Ziweixing Universal has the right to take over and continue filming.

HBO agreed in principle.

However, there are still many details to discuss.

Purple Star Global can obtain the streaming media copyright, but it cannot abuse the copyright, cannot authorize multiple streaming media platforms at the same time, and cannot authorize free streaming media platforms. If a paid streaming platform needs to provide free trial content to attract users, "Game of Thrones" cannot appear in the trial content.

In short, we cannot let the common people see "Game of Thrones" easily, and we must set up viewing thresholds to ensure the maximum rights and interests of the copyright owners.

If you can just watch the drama online, who would buy the DVD? Who wants to subscribe to HBO?

Therefore, in exchange, HBO promised to share a portion of the sales profits from the DVD of the show to Ziweixing Global. After some haggling, the price was settled at 25%.

In terms of investment share, Ziweixing Global has to bear 40% of the investment in the entire series of "Game of Thrones". If it withdraws in a certain season, it will lose the relevant rights and interests in that season.

The conditions are very real in all aspects.

Cooperation is full of sincerity.

There is no way, HBO must be sincere. If "Game of Thrones" wants to raise funds, at present, Ziweixing Global is the only one that has been fooled, but it cannot scare away the investors by putting forward too harsh conditions.

At the same time, HBO also held discussions around the TV series of the "Lord of the Rings" series. They hope that after the relevant American dramas are filmed, HBO will have priority in local television broadcasts.

Zhou Buqi naturally agreed and put forward a new condition, "I can give priority, but I hope you can help me."

"What's the deal?"

"Get the image authorization from Warner. I know you can. Jeffrey Bex, the current chairman of Time Warner, was promoted from HBO."

"No problem, I'll help you run it."

Richard showed a bright smile and looked at each other with his team.

about there!

I was really fooled!

It’s so easy to fool a layman!