"As for China Telecom's establishment of a board of directors, I just mentioned it last night. Don't hold out any hope in the short term. You can just watch and don't add anything to it. Moreover, even if a board of directors is established, the number of seats we can fight for will not fall to you two. Personally, I still hope you will stand behind the scenes."
Breakfast time the next day.
Simon, Chen Qing and Lin Su talked about something that happened at the reception for the China Telecom roadshow team last night.
The rosy-faced Lin Su just nodded when she heard the words. Chen Qing looked at the radiant woman opposite with a sour look, turned to her boss and said: "But, boss, many people in China are interested in these things. I regret it now." Putting Asu on the Forbes list is of no use. If I had known, I would have made it myself."
Simon shook his head and said: "Standing on the stage will definitely be beneficial in the short term, but it will only cause a lot of trouble in the long term. What's more, China is all about moderation and restraint. Of course, if you insist on jumping to the stage, I have no objection."
Chen Qing immediately changed her face: "Boss, I'm just talking."
Simon smiled and said: "There is also the matter of Scooper and BBK cooperating to produce DVDs. You must handle this matter well. For the time being, it can only be exported. This is not only to protect our interests in China's VCD industry, but also involves To the copyright protection issue that the entire Western electronics industry and media industry is very concerned about."
"Of course, I am measured," Chen Qing nodded, and said: "Boss, it seems that we can get a big share of the DVD industry, and Scoop will not do it in the short term. Do you need to worry too much about transition?”
"Yes, but it was all obtained through indirect negotiations between Daenerys Entertainment and Sony giants. You must cherish it. And the transformation still needs to be carried out. After all, in this DVD industry, we are only sharing the pie and do not have the right to dominate. .”
Chen Qing said proudly: "Isn't Daenerys Entertainment the leader? If we don't provide content to those electronic manufacturers, there will be no way to promote their DVDs."
This is true.
Whether it is video recorders, DVDs that are currently being promoted, or even high-definition Blu-ray later, Hollywood studios are an important part. If Hollywood, which controls global media dominance, is unwilling to provide content, electronic manufacturers will not be able to promote related products. to the world.
Of course, except in some areas where copyright does not matter.
Daenerys Entertainment, which currently controls most of Hollywood, has played a decisive role in the popularization of DVD.
If Simon is a conservative and is unwilling to support DVDs just like when Disney and other manufacturers sued Sony VCRs, there will be no hope of promoting this product in the short term.
Of course Simon is not.
However, Daenerys Entertainment's support must have its own conditions, and ensuring that Scoop continues to enjoy the benefits of video decoding chips in the DVD era is one of them. In addition, there is also Simon's consideration of the online rental industry. As DVDs begin to be promoted, the Blockbuster video chain controlled by the Westeros system will further undergo online transformation, blocking online services such as Netflix in advance. The development of rental vendors.
Compared with expensive video recorders, the birth of DVD will undoubtedly bring another industry change.
Unlike the stubborn record industry, Simon embraced this change very actively. After all, just like the record industry, if you don't accept the change, you will often lose the initiative completely after the industry is severely impacted, and you can only become a loser. Subsidiary to other industries.
Still the same sentence: If you can't eliminate yourself, you can only be eliminated by others.
Simon didn't say much about this, but continued: "Also, do you know about the exclusive interview with Fashion magazine that Jian Xin and the others accepted last time?"
Chen Qing nodded.
Simon said: "Try to contact us. We can bring together Condé Nast or Time Warner to jointly establish a large-scale fashion paper media company. This is not a big deal, but if it can be done, we can create a large-scale fashion media company in China." The field will gain the right to speak in advance, and by then, whether it is Elite, Melisandre, or even Daenerys, they will have a very high-quality marketing platform."
In the past, the fashion media group was born out of a magazine-affiliated subsidiary of the China Tourism Administration. It included almost all of China's most influential fashion magazines such as "Harper's Bazaar", "Men's Wear", and "Fashion Home", and also Created the famous Harper's Bazaar Charity Dinner.
Among them, the 'Bazaar' brand actually comes from the "BAZAAR" magazine originally owned by the Hearst Group. Fashion Media has therefore become a Sino-foreign joint venture brand in which the Hearst Group has a stake.
After the turmoil two years ago, the Hearst Group had packaged and sold its magazine series and was taken over by Time Warner. Naturally, it is impossible to make such an investment in China this time. Simon was inspired by Jian Xin's private email about taking over the "Vogue" interview, and of course he would not miss this layout opportunity.
When Chen Qing heard Simon mention this matter, her eyes lit up as soon as she thought about it: "Boss, this is a very good idea, but I don't think we need to bring in Condé Nast or Time Warner. We can do it ourselves, Daenerys Doesn’t the entertainment company have Fashion TV? Moreover, the biggest shortage in the country now is funds. As for the operating concept, we can just imitate it directly.”
Simon smiled and asked: "What do you think is the most important factor in 'fashion'?"
Chen Qing thought for a moment, but could only shake her head: "What?"
"What a style," Simon said: "Bring Condé Nast or Time Warner in and use their existing old magazines to create a joint venture brand. For example, well, now Time Warner's "BAZAAR" magazine and China's "Fashion "joined forces to create "Harper's Bazaar", which immediately has an international scope, which can quickly open up the situation in China."
Chen Qing was stunned, and then asked: "In this case, it will be difficult for us to gain control?"
"You only need to ensure 20% to 30% of the equity. The important thing is that other shareholders cannot have absolute control. If you want this investment, you must carry out a clear shareholding reform. The management, original shareholders , investors, etc., the equity is controlled within 20 to 30%.”
“But if it were Condé Nast or Time Warner, would they be willing to accept such a small stake?”
"We are not asking you to talk to the entire Condé Nast or Time Warner. You can only contact one magazine, such as the "BAZAAR" I just mentioned. In this way, both the scale of cooperation and the difficulty of joint ventures will be greatly reduced. In this way, you can confirm "BAZAAR" , you take the time to contact the Chinese side, if you have any clues, I will say hello to Semel."
"Um."
After saying this, Simon thought about it for a moment and then said: "Last one, please take the time to investigate what good investment projects South Korea has in China."
Chen Qing was immediately confused, and even Lin Su raised his head curiously.
Simon did not reveal too much, but said: "You will understand next year that Cersei Capital's China Research Institute team will also determine the same research project, but it will target Japan, South Korea, New Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The scope is relatively large, which is a smoke bomb. .”
Lin Su remembered something and asked tentatively: "I saw an article analyzing the Asian economy a few months ago. It was believed that Southeast Asia is generally economically imbalanced, with debt and deficits obviously too high. An economic crisis may break out in the next few years?"
"Don't get involved in these things, just focus on China." Simon nodded slightly, then turned to Chen Qing: "Don't forget to keep studying, otherwise you will hit the ceiling soon."
Chen Qing immediately pouted: "Boss, I feel wronged. I am much more capable than Asu."
After breakfast, Simon was ready to head back to the West Coast.
After a brief tidying up, she put on the windbreaker given by the two women at the entrance, combed it through to make sure there was nothing missing that needed to be explained, and finally hugged Chen Qing, then turned to Lin Su, put her arms around the woman's waist, remembered something, and smiled Said: "Did Sir tell you something when you were a child?"
Lin Su was held in the man's arms and raised her head slightly: "Huh?"
"Don't kiss a boy, you will get pregnant." Simon said, seeing a layer of rouge quickly spread on the woman's face, he smiled and lowered his head: "Come on, let's increase the success rate."
Back in Los Angeles, it was still the morning of December 14th.
Saturday.
Mainly to deal with some accumulated affairs on the West Coast before Christmas, Jenny and the others are still staying in Greenwich, looking forward to snowing for Christmas, and Simon will return to the East Coast before Christmas.
This is already the second day of the Christmas season.
Simon is most concerned about the recent box office data of Christmas movies.
In the past box office week from December 6 to December 12, "Wonder Woman 2" experienced a significant box office drop. In its third week of release, the drop reached 41%, and the box office revenue was US$59.71 million. However, the film was only released for three weeks, and its cumulative box office quickly reached a high of US$314.3 million, easily surpassing the US$307 million of the previous annual box office champion "Spectre" and advancing to the first place on the annual list.
Overshadowed by the success of "Wonder Woman 2", all other movies released during the Thanksgiving period were swept away and dimmed.
In addition to "Wonder Woman 2", there is "Good Will Hunting" which opened for screening last week and the nominations for the 54th Golden Globe Awards announced on December 11.
With an attractive creative lineup and a cost of only US$10 million, "Good Will Hunting" just opened on 106 screens last week and attracted a lot of media attention. This low-cost literary drama lived up to expectations and received almost unanimous praise after its release. The comprehensive media score reached a classic level of 9.4 points. The famous film critic Roger Ebert even raised the film to 'another " Rain Man》'degree.
All-round praise, coupled with the attractive main cast of Gus Van Sant, Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, immediately attracted a large number of curious audiences. Watch a movie.
At the same time, the Golden Globe Award nomination on December 11 has once again added popularity to this film. Relying on its excellent quality, "Good Will Hunting" won the best drama category at this Golden Globe Award. There were a total of 5 nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay in Film and Drama.
Due to its high reputation and popularity, the average box office of the film in the first week of screening finally reached US$51,300. After seven days of screening, the cumulative box office on only 106 screens has reached US$5.43 million.
With this popularity and reputation, if Daenerys Entertainment wants to pursue the next Oscar victory, it will not be difficult.
However, Simon had no intention of doing this.
For last year's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," Simon already took advantage of the film's high box office and popularity and put the film on the best picture throne through strong public relations.
According to Simon's strategy, we must take a step back this year.
Otherwise, next year's "Titanic" will definitely have unexpected changes. In any case, the Oscar organizing committee will not allow Daenerys Entertainment to top the list for three consecutive years. Even if the quality of the relevant films is unquestionable, if the Oscar becomes Dany's Nelis' private space for entertainment is of no benefit to anyone.
Even so, this time it is still considered that the good news does not go to outsiders.
Because another popular film announced on December 11, "The English Patient" produced by MGM, is still Simon's deliberate arrangement.
This film was proposed by Saul Zaenz, a veteran Hollywood independent producer who once held the copyright to the "Lord of the Rings" series. Since the production cost was obviously too high compared to the subject matter, Zaenz went through many twists and turns in the production of the film. Original Time and Space even gave up the rights to the "Lord of the Rings" series to the Weinstein brothers for the project of this movie.
This time, Simon began quietly paying attention to the project very early and guided MGM to pick up the film at the right time last year.
"The English Patient" ultimately cost $27 million, which is indeed high for a novel adapted from a literary film. And, frankly speaking, unlike "Good Will Hunting" which is suitable for all ages, the content of "The English Patient" is much darker and more obscure, but This also suits the taste of film critics.
Therefore, compared to "Good Will Hunting"'s 5 nominations, "The English Patient" this time won Best Picture in a Drama Series, Best Director, Best Actor in a Drama Series, Best Actress in a Drama Series, Best Supporting Actress, With a total of 7 nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Film Score, it can be said to be the biggest favorite at this Golden Globe Awards. It will also obviously become the focus of the Oscars during next year's awards season.
The 1997 awards season started with the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations. In addition to "Good Will Hunting" and "The English Patient", there is also the Coen brothers' new film "Fargo" released at the end of the summer season by Highgate Pictures and Madonna's The first "Mrs. Peron" is relatively eye-catching, but as for Spielberg's slave-themed movie "Broken Tide", it was purely based on qualifications.
For Hollywood, where business is king, awards and honors are just embellishments after all. Therefore, everyone’s attention quickly turns to the Christmas schedule, which opens on December 13.
Compared with the prime box office week exclusively for "Wonder Woman 2" on November 22, the Christmas period, which starts on Black Friday on December 13, is much more crowded. In addition to the blockbuster "Game of the Brave", there are also There are Disney's "Bodyguard", another Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy "Jingle Bells All the Way", the large-scale opening of "Good Will Hunting" and "The English Patient" which opened this week. painting.
As a special effects blockbuster co-produced by Daenerys Entertainment and Time Warner Group, Simon originally used Johnson's version of the story in 2017, plus veteran actor Sylvester Stallone and supermodel Qu Si. With Gauff joining the cast, the film ultimately cost $82 million to produce, slightly overspending.
Fortunately, the final film effect is quite satisfactory.
Also after the premiere on December 11, the film's reputation was lifted the next day, with a comprehensive media score of 7.8, which is quite good.
The first is the film’s special effects.
Thanks to the special effects of Daenerys and some grand scenes deliberately added by Simon based on the original version, the special effects scenes of the film are very shocking.
As for the actors, Sylvester Stallone won unanimous approval from film critics by acting in a middle-aged body with the mentality of a young man. Even Tracy Gauff, who is well known to be a cross-border favorite of a certain young tycoon, not only aroused a strong response from the audience with her stunning and sexy appearance, but her acting skills also exceeded expectations.
If there is a shortcoming, it is inevitably the plot.
The "Hollywood Reporter" commented that this film is "a completely mindless popcorn movie for young people." This is the main reason why the film's overall score did not reach above 8 points.
However, none of the parties were harsh on this.
Because "Jumanji" is originally a popcorn blockbuster that is lighthearted, funny and full of visual shocks, Simon never thought of adding even a little bit of connotation to it.
In its first week of release, the number of opening screens for "Game of the Brave" finally reached 3,539, second only to "Wonder Woman 2" at the end of the year.
Compared with "101 Dalmatians" in the Thanksgiving season, which cost $75 million, Disney's "Bodyguard" in the Christmas season had a budget of only $40 million. The film tells the story of Henry, a black man in a small town, and his growing relationship with his wife Juliet, who is the lead singer of a church choir. Indifference, the story of an unexpected response after confiding in God, which led to an angel descending to earth.
The film is directed by Penny Marshall and stars Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston in an all-black cast.
Moreover, it is obvious that the film also follows the trend of the original "Bodyguard" starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. The media score was only a barely passable 6.0, which is not satisfactory.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Jingle Bells" once again continues the action star's comedy style that he started with "Dragon Brothers" and "Kindergarten Cop". It can be regarded as a short film he took over during the preparation for "Terminator 3". live.
This time it was really just a small job.
Due to the failure of several consecutive films and Hollywood's badmouthing of traditional action stars, compared to the previous "Little Ones" which cost $60 million but failed miserably at the box office, the production cost of "Jingle All the Way" was only $30 million. Different from the previous high salary of US$15 million, this time Arnold signed a basic salary plus profit sharing model with producer Fox of US$8 million, which is almost equivalent to reducing his salary by half.
Moreover, after opening with 2,401 screens, Arnold still failed to reverse his bad luck. The film's comprehensive media score was only a pitiful 3.8 points. Faced with the squeeze of a number of strong films, with this kind of reputation, the box office prospects are promising. Just imagine.
After the three major new films, Good Will Hunting opened on a large scale within one week of screening, with 1,746 screens. and a small-scale screening of "The English Patient" on 10 screens.