Katzenberg is worthy of the title of a workaholic. Less than two weeks after confirming his intention to cooperate with Columbia, he negotiated a specific cooperation agreement with the other party. Two weeks does not seem short, but for a project that will last For a three-year cooperation involving hundreds of millions of dollars, a specific cooperation agreement was reached within two weeks, which can only be described as fast.
At the same time that the cooperation was confirmed, Columbia's CEO Peter Guber couldn't wait to disclose this good news of great significance to Colombia to the media.
…
"...I hope that this film can be shot on location, and in black and white documentary, and the investment should not be less than 30 million US dollars," said Spielberg and Michael Eisner in the Universal office. The movie adaptation of the book "The Ark".
After a period of contact, Michael Eisner finally reached an understanding with Spielberg. At least Spielberg no longer looked at him coldly. For Spielberg, who has been able to bring huge benefits to major film companies since the beginning of "Jaws", he doesn't need to please anyone in Hollywood. And to curry favor with him, even if the results of "Captain Hawk" were not satisfactory some time ago, it did not cause much damage to Spielberg's status in Hollywood.
Michael Eisner quietly listened to Spielberg's conditions with a smile on his face, and thought quickly in his heart. According to Spielberg's idea, he wanted to make "Schindler's Ark" in the form of a black and white documentary come out. And also want to be able to use German and Polish. These two add up. It is almost equivalent to cutting off the profitability of this movie.
Moreover, although the investment of 30 million U.S. dollars is not much, for Universal, whose debt ratio has reached 45%, 30 million U.S. dollars is not a small amount. Although Michael Eisner is also Jewish, he does not have such a strong sense of historical responsibility. Right now, he only hopes to do a good job in his career, lead the rise of the world, and get back his lost glory and status.
therefore. In order to cooperate with Spielberg in the future, Michael Eisner knew that he had to agree, and there was no second choice.
"Steven, I can promise you all of these. In addition, Universal will try its best to contact Poland for you and seek local support," Michael Eisner thought routinely after Spielberg finished speaking. After a while, he agreed. At the same time, he raised his hand and looked at his watch: "It's almost five o'clock, how about having dinner together?"
Spielberg was about to say no. He heard a hasty knock on the door of Michael Eisner's office.
Michael Eisner frowned, a little displeased, and apologized to Spielberg before letting him in in a low voice.
"Mr. Eisner, I think you need to look at this." Although the assistant noticed Michael Eisner's displeasure, he knew that if he didn't notify the other party immediately, his job might be lost. problem.
Michael Eisner took an evening paper handed over by his assistant, glanced at the headline quickly, and immediately widened his eyes in surprise: "How is this possible?"
Spielberg noticed the shocked expression on Michael Eisner's face, which was always calm, and looked over.
"Firefly joins hands with Sony Pictures to jointly develop five films in the next three years."
The bold font came into view, and Spielberg wanted to continue reading the news. Michael Eisner had already read the news at a glance.
"Sorry, Steven, maybe I can't have dinner with you," Michael Eisner said after watching the news, standing up.
Spielberg also stood up with interest, and under the escort of Michael Eisner, he left the Universal Headquarters building.
After personally sending Spielberg to the car, Michael Eisner immediately shook the newspaper still in his hand to his assistant: "Apart from this, is there any other news?"
The assistant shook his head: "No, but this news is absolutely accurate. It is said that Peter Guber, the CEO of Columbia, personally disclosed it to the reporter. He will never lie about this kind of thing."
Michael Eisner took the mobile phone from his assistant, and skillfully dialed Peter Cooper's private mobile phone number without looking through the address book. Unfortunately, the phone directly indicated that the line was busy, and it continued for more than ten minutes. , Michael Eisner found the phone number of Jon Peters again, and it was still the same after dialing. It seems that the two people on the opposite side are also busy with various inquiries.
"Order to get someone to collect all the information about this matter as soon as possible, the more detailed the better," Michael Eisner hung up the phone again and said to his assistant.
"I've sent someone to do it," the assistant said with a little credit in his tone.
However, the heartbroken Michael Eisner didn't react much. He turned around and hurried towards the office. He had to discuss this matter with Universal's executives as soon as possible.
In the eyes of many people, Firefly has just acquired Disney, and under normal circumstances, it should not cooperate with other film companies in production. After all, the development and integration of Disney is the focus of Firefly's work in the next stage.
Moreover, Michael Eisner is also very clear that even if Firefly wants to cooperate with other film companies, Sony-Columbia should be the last choice in all aspects. In this kind of situation, it is quite a stupid thing to cooperate with the other party, so this matter will obviously not be as simple as it seems on the surface.
However, in the evening paper just now, there were only some basically worthless public relations language. Except that Sony Pictures would cooperate with Firefly on five films in the next three years, there was no useful news at all.
…
In the sharp corner manor, the fax machine on the round table beside him was beeping softly. Eric sat on the space chair by the glass curtain wall with his legs crossed, shaking his body slightly, and took brand new fax documents from the side from time to time. Reading on lap.
This is the preliminary cooperation agreement faxed by Katzenberg. but. This agreement is basically equal to the final agreement. After all, the board of directors of Sony Pictures is under the control of Peter Cooper and Jon Peters, and there will be no obstacles to the approval of the contract by the board of directors. As for the Japanese, they just go through the motions and tell them that there is such a thing. One thing happens.
Judging from the documents, Katzenberg deserves to be dubbed a grinning 'golden retriever' by some in Hollywood, if the Japanese can understand the series of twists and turns. You will definitely understand that you have been severely cut a piece of flesh.
In the contract, the two parties agreed to jointly develop five large-scale production films within three years, each with an investment scale between US$50 million and US$100 million.
However, the first clause that is not conducive to Colombia is that the film production is dominated by Disney, and Colombia must use its own resources to fully cooperate.
Although it is impossible to have a black budget due to the sound financial supervision system, it would be a big mistake if outsiders really think so. For example, the special effects of these five blockbuster films will definitely be developed by the digital field affiliated to Firefly. Then there is a lot of room for maneuver in terms of quotations. In the end, Firefly is only left-handed and right-handed, and the funds paid by Colombia will not be returned to their own pockets. Moreover, the cost of special effects for the movie occupies a share of the total cost. It can't reach the terrifying ratio of 80% in the previous life, but more than half is definitely not a problem.
In addition, Colombia only enjoys 40% of the investment rights of the five films. Although the income from box office channels, video tapes and TV broadcasts will be divided according to the ratio, the peripheral interests of the film, such as toy development, stage plays, image licensing, etc., are completely independent. Exclusively owned by Disney, although the cooperation between the two parties is a live-action film, and the surrounding benefits are not as huge as those of the animated film, but this part of the benefits must be calculated in billions.
Moreover, the most important one is that in terms of film copyright, Katzenberg actually adopted the method of authorizing the film copyright by the comic company. If an agreement is reached on the sequel, then the film copyright belonging to Columbia will automatically return to Disney. This article is basically tantamount to declaring that Disney owns the copyright of the cooperative film, and the fact that Columbia has a slightly higher status than those external independent investors who do not share the copyright is just that they have five years more copyright than the external investors, which can be By the way, according to Billy’s investment, the copyright ratio enjoyed by Disney is 20% higher than that of Columbia. If a movie sells well, unless Columbia is willing to give up most of the benefits in the sequel, otherwise, as long as Disney keeps delaying If you don't nod for five years, the film copyright will return to your own hands. At that time, you don't have to pay attention to Colombia anymore, and you can enjoy this piece of fat alone.
Reading the "unequal contract" in his hand, Eric was not too surprised. After all, after staying in Hollywood for several years, he has already understood that the cooperation in investment movies is very flexible, as long as the two parties agree , any strange contract can be signed without violating federal law.
In Colombia, even the Japanese will probably not reject this agreement. Compared with the few films that not only failed to make profits but caused huge losses in the past two years, the cooperation with Firefly, which has been creating miracles at the box office, will undoubtedly benefit in terms of income. There are some guarantees.
Moreover, in the past few years since the acquisition of Columbia, what the Japanese want most is not benefits, but hope to open up the situation through a few successful works. This "unequal agreement" seems very "normal" to the Japanese ', after all, other people are so busy playing by themselves, if they never pay more, why should others take you to play
However, what they don't know is that behind this relatively 'normal' contract, there is another unknown agreement, which will greatly enhance the strength of Firefly, and Colombia's complete global distribution network, After this agreement is implemented, it will definitely become a mess.
Thinking of this, Eric picked up the Motorola that had been turned off to avoid harassment. After thinking about it, he got up and got another spare phone. After turning it on, he dialed Katzenberg's number. His luck was still there. After some calculations, the line was busy a few times, and it was successfully connected.
"Jeffrey, I've already read the contract... I'm so sorry, I just turned off the phone, you know, a lot of things haven't been settled yet, I don't want to hear about those temptations, this is my backup phone number, You can remember," Eric casually reported his mobile phone number, and then said: "I have no objection to the terms of the contract, but have you got the information on Columbia's overseas distribution network?... Oh, so, let someone give it to me Fax a copy, I'm going to take a look... ok... no, you can go alone at night, I won't go to join in the fun, haha, then, goodbye."
After hanging up the phone, Eric put the Motorola microtab aside, picked up the contract next to him, and looked at it quietly.
A few minutes later, the fax machine buzzed again.
…
"You want to find out the news, why do you have to drag me here, Emma is still at home," Julia complained as the red BMW came to the gate of the Angle Manor, looking at Elizabeth who was honking fiercely.
The security guard recognized the two people in the car, and quickly opened the door. Elizabeth stepped on the accelerator and drove the car in, saying, "I'm here alone, and he's definitely going to talk about me again."
"Didn't he say it when we were together?" After entering the manor, Julia took off her sunglasses and looked at the surrounding scenery and asked. Speaking of which, she had forgotten how long she hadn't been here, Julia Leah's feelings towards Eric have always been very complicated, so she tried to avoid meeting Eric as much as possible.
"Of course he will, but you must be able to help me bear it, right?" Elizabeth said with a grin on her face.
"Hey, meeting you is the greatest misfortune in my life."
Elizabeth parked the car, shook her head and said, "Wrong, I know Eric."
"Both of you," Julia said, picking up her bag and following Elizabeth out of the car.
Arriving at the gate of the villa, Julia saw Elizabeth skillfully pressing the combination lock of the gate, and felt a little sour in her heart. She still didn't know what the combination lock of his house was.
"It's his birthday, but it's upside down," Elizabeth said, seeing Julia's face, and patting her with a smile.
"Never mind my business," Julia said, pretending not to care, but silently wrote it down in her heart. (To be continued..)